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. Introducing The Open Resource Sharing Coalition. August 23, 2023. . The Open Library Foundation introduced the Open Resource Sharing Coalition, a resource sharing initiative created in partnership with library consortia, open source developers, and vendors. OpenRS is a heterogeneous resource sharing system that is ILS and Discovery agnostic and accommodates the full spectrum of mediated and unmediated resource sharing. OpenRS acts upon a “consortia first” mentality, striving to provide libraries with the tools needed for robust and extended functionality for resource sharing. The software will provide a containerized code base configured for ease of deployment, maintenance, and upgrades. Libraries and consortia can choose to host the service locally or with a third party. The OpenRS software is built and maintained by Knowledge Integration, with support from EBSCO Information Services. Additional OpenRS Community members include representatives from the MOBIUS consortium, GALILEO/University System of Georgia, Marmot Library Network, Boston Library Consortium, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, and others.

Breeding, Marshall. FOLIO Crosses New Thresholds. November 2019. Smart Libraries Newsletter. The initiative to develop FOLIO as an open source library services platform has been underway since 2016 and has continued to cross important milestones. The software has continued to advance in its functionality and completeness, leading to its first production migration, selections in formal procurement processes, with other libraries waiting in the wings for future implementation.

Breeding, Marshall. FOLIO: Advancing from Vision to Software. January 2018. Smart Libraries Newsletter. The open source FOLIO project to create a new library services platform continues to see progress in its development timeline. Since the project was launched in late 2015, the project has crossed a number of significant milestones in its technical development, community-building, outreach, and in support structures. Project documentation posits the end of 2018 for the availability of its initial version able to replace a library's existing ILS. This three-year development effort from project launch to a minimally viable product can be seen as ambitious but reasonably consistent with the timelines of other products.

. Open Library Foundation established foundation created to promote open source projects for libraries. September 9, 2016. . The Open Library Foundation has been established to promote open source projects for libraries and to foster and support contribution, distribution, and sustainability of the benefits of these projects. The foundation provides the infrastructure for librarians, developers, designers, service providers, and vendors to collaborate with innovative open source technologies and develop transformative solutions for libraries.

Breeding, Marshall. EBSCO Supports New Open Source Project in Partnership with Kuali OLE. May 2016. Smart Libraries Newsletter. A new initiative has launched to create an open source library services platform for academic libraries. EBSCO Information Services conceived the project and will provide substantial funding. A community of developers comprising commercial and library organizations will create the software. Kuali OLE, previously working to create its own open source library resource management system, will make a transition to participate in this new initiative rather than complete its own software. Many details of the new project, including the nature of Kuali OLE's involvement, are not yet finalized. The resources currently lining up behind this initiative provide the potential for the rapid development generally consistent with the plans for Kuali OLE. Participants characterize this new project as not as a setback, but as an acceleration of the availability of an open source library services platform for academic libraries.

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August 27, 2024. The Open Library Foundation welcomes Project ReShare as an affiliate member. The Open Library Foundation welcomed Project ReShare to its growing list of open-source member projects. Project ReShare brings a collaborative community of open information advocates and expertise in resource sharing that strengthens the open-source library ecosystem. Project ReShare provides an innovative, community-owned resource-sharing platform that sets the stage for the future of library resource-sharing built upon principles of trust, openness, inclusivity, transparency, and accountability, and with active participation from implementers and partners, including PALCI, CAVAL, Minitex, Boston Library Consortium, Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, Index Data, and others. With ReShare Digital, Project ReShare aims to revolutionize e-book lending and other forms of digital resource-sharing, ensuring wider access to digital materials for communities everywhere.

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June 12, 2024. The Open Resource Sharing Coalition (OpenRS) welcomes MOBIUS as its first consortial member implementer. The Open Resource Sharing Coalition, a collaborative resource sharing initiative of the Open Library Foundation, welcomes its first implementer, MOBIUS. MOBIUS is using EBSCO Information Services as its OpenRS service provider, providing the consortium with implementation, hosting, training and support services. As a founding member of the OpenRS coalition, MOBIUS has been instrumental in developing the new open-source resource sharing platform. Since the project's inception in August 2023, MOBIUS and the OpenRS Founding Council, a diverse group of consortia, libraries, and vendors, have been working closely to build a consortial resource-sharing solution. This collaborative effort was born out of the recognition that there is currently no solution in the market that fully addresses direct, unmediated resource sharing for consortia, especially those made up of different types of libraries (including public and academic) or that use different integrated library systems.

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January 3, 2024. The Open Library Foundation announces WOLFcon 2024. Open Library Foundation announced that WOLFCon 2024 will take place September 24-26, 2024, at Senate House, University of London. OLF welcomes all library professionals curious about open-source initiatives to join this collaborative event. WOLFcon brings together members from OLF's project communities and product users from around the world to foster collaborative discussions, presentations, workshops and working meetings. This annual event catalyzes conversations centering on advancements in open-source technology and the evolution of library workflows and patron needs. WOLFcon captures OLF's steadfast dedication to creating positive change and nurturing a vibrant community committed to open-source technologies.

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April 11, 2022. VuFind Joins the Open Library Foundation. VuFind has joined the Open Library Foundation. The open source library discovery tool was developed at Villanova University and is maintained by an international development community that has been coordinated by staff at the University's Falvey Memorial Library since 2007. VuFind is joining the foundation in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of VuFind, which is used by hundreds of libraries around the world.

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February 8, 2022. The Open Library Foundation Names First Open Source Project to its Project Incubation Program. The Open Library Foundation has invited the Library Data Platform (LDP) to be the first open source project to participate in its Project Incubation Program. The program is designed to support early-stage open source projects and communities that are developing the balanced and robust mix of technology, governance, resourcing and community engagement required to be self-sustaining.

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September 28, 2021. The Advanced Research Consortium joins the Open Library Foundation as project member. The Advanced Research Consortium (ARC) has joined the Open Library Foundation as a Project Member. By joining the Open Library Foundation, ARC is able to leverage the community of projects that are part of the Open Library Foundation.

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August 13, 2021. The Open Library Foundation adds three board members. The Open Library Foundation has named three new members to its Board. The Foundation Leadership represents institutions, library vendors and services providers from around the globe. The new Board Members are Agnese Galeffi, from the Library System of Sapienza University in Rome, Italy; Nancy Kirkpatrick, the Executive Director and CEO of OhioNet; and Liu (Keven) Wei, the Deputy Director of Shanghai Library and Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of Shanghai.

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February 24, 2021. Elizabeth German joins The Open Library Foundation as Senior Program Officer. he Open Library Foundation has named Elizabeth German to the role of Senior Program Officer. German is an associate professor and the service design librarian at Texas A&M University and will work with the Foundation's Board to support Foundation operations and strategic initiatives.

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February 10, 2018. FOLIO Platform Begins 2018 with a strong list of accomplishments and plans for rapid expansion over the next twelve months. FOLIO begins 2018 reaching a variety of notable development milestones. The open source project is dedicated to providing libraries of all sizes with choice when selecting a library services platform (LSP) or building library services beyond traditional functionality to expand their reach with their institution. Development milestones and the expansion of the FOLIO Community point to the project reaching a critical mass in 2018.

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September 9, 2016. Open Library Foundation established foundation created to promote open source projects for libraries. The Open Library Foundation has been established to promote open source projects for libraries and to foster and support contribution, distribution, and sustainability of the benefits of these projects. The foundation provides the infrastructure for librarians, developers, designers, service providers, and vendors to collaborate with innovative open source technologies and develop transformative solutions for libraries.

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