[Dspace-general] DuraSpace Reaches Out to Decision-Makers Through Open Source Development Process with Launch of Solution Communities

[Valorie Hollister]

Apologies for the cross posting....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2009

Contact:
Carol Minton Morris
DuraSpace, Dir. of Marketing and Communications
cmmorris at DuraSpace.org
Skype: carolmmorris
607 255-2702
Twitter at DuraSpace
http://DuraSpace.org

DuraSpace Reaches Out to Decision-Makers Through Open Source Development 
Process with Launch of Solution Communities

Ithaca, NY, Boston, MA At the heart of any open source project are the 
people who come together to create innovative software. Today DuraSpace 
(http://DuraSpace.org), a non-profit organization that combines Fedora 
Commons and DSpace technologies, announced a launch of their Solution 
Community program to extend participation in open source software 
development to strategic decision makers.

With over 900 repository implementations worldwide, DuraSpace Solution 
Communities seek to increase resources, connections, skills and ideas by 
engaging people at all organizational levels in order to improve open 
technologies and strengthen the communities that use them. By providing 
leadership, tools and coordination DuraSpace Solution Communities bring 
tech savvy decision-makers together around critical community issues to 
establish the conditions in which collaboration can flourish to provide 
durable access to our digital heritage.

Thorny Staples, Director of Community Strategy and Alliances, and Val 
Hollister, Director of Community Development, DSpace Project, will offer 
a free “All About Repositores” web seminar on Monday November 23, 2009 
entitled “Take a New Look at DuraSpace Solution Communities” to 
introduce new tools and resources for Solution Communities (register 
here: http://www.education-webevents.com/). They will explain how to get 
involved in grassroots efforts to meet the challenges of rapidly 
changing information environments faced by knowledge organizations 
everywhere. They will also discuss the Solution Community bottom-up 
organizational approach based on the theory that higher levels of order 
will emerge from complex systems under the right conditions.

Solution Communities in Data Curation, Preservation and Archiving, 
Scholars Workbench, and Small Archives have begun investigations into 
how to leverage collective interests and priorities. To support Solution 
Community efforts, DuraSpace has developed a suite of tools and offers 
free access to anyone with an interest in participating. Individuals 
will find several ways to engage with Solution Communities including 
wikis (http://fedora-commons.org/confluence/display/FCCWG/Home) that 
contain a growing knowledge base, and mailing lists for specific 
communication around Solution Community topics. In addition, the new 
DuraSpace social network pilot in Crowdvine 
(http://duraspace.crowdvine.com/) features informal groupings for each 
Solution Community so individuals can connect around their particular 
interest.

ABOUT DURASPACE

DuraSpace (http://DuraSpace.org) is a not-for-profit organization that 
is the result of joining Fedora Commons and DSpace, two not-for-profits 
established to sustain their open source repository software. The two 
organizations combined forces to pursue a common mission and to expand 
their offerings into cloud computing and scholarly/scientific 
“cyberinfrastructure” for universities, libraries, and research 
institutions, archives, museums, NGOs, and more.

DuraSpace is committed to providing technologies and services that help 
ensure that our digital heritage is accessible over the long term. 
Accordingly, the DuraSpace technology portfolio inherently addresses the 
issue of durability of digital content. Durability is not only essential 
for high integrity access to digital information, but it is also a 
necessary pre-requisite to the process of digital preservation as 
expressed in the DuraSpace organizational byline, “Open technologies for 
durable digital content.”