The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Kuali OLE project an additional $750,000 to support a third year of development of a new-generation library services platform available as open source software, designed for research libraries. This additional phase will include enhancements including accommodating multisite implementations, support for patron self-service, and interoperability with high-density storage facilities. Indiana University continues as the lead institution for the partnership which also includes Duke University, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, North Carolina State University, University of Florida, Lehigh University, Villanova University, University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. HTC Global has been engaged as a commercial affiliate, contracted to perform much of the technical work following an agile software development process. It will continue in this role in this additional phase of the project.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to fund the Kuali OLE project and related initiatives. This third round of funding was preceded by a $475,000 oneyear planning grant awarded in June 2008, a $2.38 million award announced in January 2010 for a two-year software development project. In June 2012, the Mellon Foundation also funded a $499,000 project to create the Global Open Knowledgebase, in partnership with JISC, which will provide an open access and community supported knowledgebase needed for electronic resource management in Kuali OLE and related projects. The Mellon's investments in the Kuali OLE project now total over $4 million, with the participating partner institutions providing similar levels of matching funds and in-kind contributions.
The current development roadmap projects Kuali OLE Version 1.0, to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the timeline currently shown on the project's Web site. The original timeline slated the initial version to be complete at the beginning of 2013. This additional year of development will result in a more complete set of functionality in the initial release.
No libraries are yet using the software in production. Partners on the earliest implementation track may begin shifting to Kuali OLE by the end of 2013.
See: kuali.org/ole
