Sustaining Open Source Software

Notes: View the community notes Google doc for this session.

Session Type: Presentation

Session Description Open source software has become increasingly popular in the library domain for many reasons: its low out-of-pocket cost, the availability of the source code, the ability to contribute to development of the software product, and the ability to participate in likeminded communities taking root around the open source software. This increase in interest has led to an increase in the ability of the projects to tap their user base for the contributions necessary to sustain the software, benefitting both the project and its community. Software managers have a stable business environment for maintaining the software and planning future development and users are more assured that the software will continue to evolve to meet their needs and that their investment is guarded.

There is no standard recipe for sustaining an open source software project and each successful project has taken a slightly different tack. In this proposed panel discussion, representatives from the following seven software projects will provide a seven minute overview of the sustainability measures their project has put in place: ArchivesSpace, Archivematica, BitCurator, CollectionSpace, DuraSpace, Hydra, and Islandora. Each representative will highlight the longevity of the project, the phases of development of sustainability for the project, advantages and disadvantages of the project’s sustainability measures, and, finally, planned improvement to the sustainability measures. The last forty-minutes of the session will be reserved for questions from and discussion with session attendees.

Session Leaders Sibyl Schaefer, Rockefeller Archives Center Bradley Westbrook, ArchivesSpace Mark Leggot, DiscoveryGarden/Islandora Mike Giarlo, Penn State University Cal Lee, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Angela Spinazzè, CollectionSpace Jonathan Markow, DuraSpace Evelyn McClellan, Artefactual Systems