This 'How To' guide is based on successful Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) implementation at Yusuf Ahmed Al-Ghanim Library, the main library at Birzeit University in Palestine’s West Bank. The guide aims to help libraries in other developing countries benefit from Birzeit University library’s experience, and to implement their own LTSP installation.

On returning home from a workshop on open source software (OSS) for libraries during the EIFL General Assembly in Vilnius in October 2005, Library Director Diana Sayej-Naser was inspired to approach the university’s electrical engineering department who were running a project on OSS. Within a couple of months, the Main Library had transformed their old computers into a new high-speed network with access to the internet, online databases, the library catalogue and Ritaj, the university’s academic web portal.

The system was tested in the library and schools in Palestine, and  feedback was excellent.

The guide covers all aspects of LTSP installation and implementation, including software, hardware, networking and power requirements; a step-by-step guide to installing the software; troubleshooting, and managing use of the system.

It is available in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

This guide was produced, translated, and distributed with the support of UNESCO.