[Dspace-general] DSpace/Fedora initial discussions on joint collaboration

[Michele Kimpton]

Dear members of the DSpace community,

Over the last few weeks, we (Michele Kimpton and Sandy Payette) have  
been discussing the possibilities of our organizations collaborating.   
The reasons for exploring the possibilities of collaboration are based  
on the following:

	1.The missions of our non-profit organizations are very similar and  
we are motivated to provide the best technology and services to many  
of the same communities

	2.Over the next 12-18 months, our existing technology roadmaps  
suggest convergence of thought in several key areas of our  
architectural visions

	3.We are both motivated to show how our open source repositories  
offer a unique value proposition compared to proprietary solutions


Over the past couple of weeks, we have had informal discussions with  
members of our communities, leaders in libraries and higher education,  
and Board members to get initial feedback as to whether they would  
support collaboration and the outcomes they would like to see as a  
result.

This past week, we convened members of both communities during the  
PASIG conference to get input and ideas regarding a collaboration.

Thus far, all of the stakeholders we have had the opportunity to talk  
with have been extremely supportive and excited about the possibility  
of the Fedora and DSpace communities working together in some capacity.

As a result of these discussions, we have agreed to move forward in  
our exploration of collaborative possibilities.  Over the next several  
weeks our organizations will meet to plan the next steps in the  
process. Our intent is to bring together the ideas and expertise  
within both communities to come up with the most compelling issues to  
work on to best serve our communities.

As we move through this process it is our commitment to ensure that  
all discussions, meetings and decisions made are transparent and open  
in the hopes to engage and inform the community.

We look forward to your ideas and inputs!

Best Regards,

Michele and Sandy

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