Software Development
Our Service
Over 15 years of open source leadership
Since 2007, Open Fifth has played a pivotal role in the Koha library management and, more recently, the Aspen Discovery open source software ecosystems. From major feature developments and quality assurance to strategic leadership and cross-community support, Open Fifth continues to drive progress in open source library technologies.
Our work across Koha and Aspen Discovery reflects a long-standing and future-focused commitment: to deliver practical, innovative solutions to libraries while contributing openly and collaboratively to the communities that sustain them. Our model ensures that what benefits one library can benefit all.
Open Fifth is proud to be a partner, contributor, and advocate for open source in libraries.
Services and custom software development
Open Fifth provides a full suite of services for both Koha and Aspen Discovery, including:
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- Contracted developments – Custom features and improvements built to customer specifications.
- Plugin development for Koha – Extending Koha’s capabilities with modular, maintainable enhancements outside of the core community code.
- Community management – We make sure our customers have a voice in the evolution of the software by staying up to date on developments in the wider communities, facilitating feedback, and representing our customers in the global stage.
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Major Feature Developments in Koha
Open Fifth has authored and contributed to numerous headline features that have reshaped how libraries use the Koha library management system:
- Item booking system – Built-in booking infrastructure for time-based reservations of library materials.
- Enhanced ILL module – Integrated the standard (FreeForm) backend and improved request workflows with batch DOI/PubMed imports.
- E-Resource management – Added searchability, vendor linking, and a COUNTER-compatible Usage Statistics module.
- Circulation & cataloguing enhancements – Improved order line management, editing permissions, and content warnings.
Many of these enhancements were sponsored by library customers, with others initiated and funded by Open Fifth to proactively enhance Koha. This development model is collaborative, with clients actively involved in testing and validation to ensure all features meet their real-world requirements. Check out the Open Fifth GitHub profile to see what we’ve been developing lately.
Our Work in Aspen Discovery
Since joining the Aspen Discovery community in recent years, Open Fifth has expanded its development team and made valuable contributions to the platform’s evolution. Highlights include:
- Web builder module – Empowering libraries to build and manage web content directly within Aspen.
- Community engagement module – Tools to support outreach, events, and patron interaction. Read about our work on this module in Aspen Weekly volume 228: Community Engagement Module.
- Bug fixes and enhancements – Ongoing work to improve stability, usability, and feature depth.
As with Koha, Open Fifth is committed to working in partnership with libraries, ensuring new developments serve real needs and are shared back with the wider community.
Leadership and Community Roles
Open Fifth team members have held key roles in the open source software development communities for the products we support, demonstrating broad and long-term involvement. Our roles have included:
- Release management
- Release maintenance
- QA Team management
- Bug wrangling & triage
- Topic experts (e.g., Accounts, UI/UX)
- Community representation and advocacy.
You can find out more about the Koha project roles and the current Release Team on the Koha Wiki site.