OpenShelf

OpenShelf is an open-source software project for library cataloging and circulation management, designed to be installed and run on user-controlled hardware or cloud infrastructure. It aims to support small to medium libraries as well as personal collections, providing a self-hosted alternative to proprietary library systems.

Core features include catalog management with bibliographic and item records, barcode support, and a circulation module for checkouts and returns. It offers holds and reservations, patron management, fines and fees tracking, acquisitions and vendor management, and reporting and analytics. Import and export capabilities for MARC-like records or CSV data, robust search, tagging, and multilingual interfaces are typically included. The system is designed to be extensible through plugins or modules and provides a RESTful API for integration with other applications and workflows.

Architecture and deployment emphasize a web-based application with a modular design and a relational database backend. OpenShelf is intended to be self-hosted and can be deployed in containerized environments such as Docker, as well as traditional server setups. The project prioritizes data portability and interoperability through standards-based metadata and open interfaces.

Licensing and governance are characteristic of open-source software: OpenShelf is distributed under an open-source license and maintained by a community of volunteers and librarians. Development follows public contribution practices, with an issue tracker, discussion forums, and regular releases.

Impact and use cases include libraries, schools, nonprofit organizations, and hobbyist collections that use OpenShelf to manage catalogs, circulation, and reporting, while enabling local data sharing and interoperability with other library systems.

See also: open-source library management systems, bibliographic software, library automation.