[Libs-Or] News: Orbis Cascade Alliance and the Open Library Environment Project

[John F. Helmer]

I am pleased to let our colleagues in the region know that the Orbis 
Cascade Alliance is an Advisory Partner to the Open Library Environment 
(OLE) Project funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by Duke 
University.

Project Web site: http://oleproject.org/
List of participants: http://oleproject.org/participants/

See below for more information.

-- 
________________________________________
John F. Helmer
Executive Director
Orbis Cascade Alliance

jhelmer at uoregon.edu
v: 541.346.1835 | f: 541.346.1968
1299 Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, Or. 97403-1299
www.orbiscascade.org | summit.orbiscascade.org


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Announcement:  Mellon Funds Design of Next-Generation Library System

A $475,700 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Duke
University Libraries will lead to the design of a next-generation,
open-source library system that is flexible, customizable and nimble
enough to meet the changing and complex needs of 21st-century libraries
and library users.  The goal of the Open Library Environment (OLE) 
Project is to develop a design document for library automation 
technology that fits modern library workflows, is built on Service 
Oriented Architecture, and offers an alternative to commercial 
Integrated Library System products.

Leaders of the OLE Project, representing libraries in the U.S., Canada,
and Australia, will involve the library community in the design process
through workshops, meetings, webcasts and online discussions. Through
those activities, they will develop a plan for a library technology 
system that breaks away from an emphasis on print-based workflows, 
reflects the changing nature of library materials and new approaches to 
scholarly work, meshes well with other enterprise systems, and can be 
modified easily to suit the needs of different institutions. The project 
website at
http://oleproject.org gives detailed information about the project and
includes FAQs, recommended reading, and a comment section.

"The information environment is changing rapidly, but the technology of
library management systems has not kept pace," said Lynne O'Brien,
principal investigator on the project and Director of Academic 
Technology and Instructional Services for the Duke University Libraries. 
"This project is a wonderful opportunity to design a system that 
supports library innovation and better meets the needs of today's 
researchers."

O'Brien is joined on the OLE Project team by colleagues from Duke as 
well individuals from the University of Kansas, Lehigh University, the
University of Pennsylvania, the National Library of Australia, Library 
and Archives Canada, Vanderbilt University, the Orbis Cascade Alliance,
Rutgers University, the University of Florida, the University of 
Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Maryland and Whittier 
College. Because the OLE Project is a collaborative, community-based 
venture, there will be many opportunities for individuals from other 
libraries to participate in the project through regional and virtual 
meetings, discussion of plans and documents, comments via the project 
website and listserv and discussions at professional meetings.
In addition to its development of a design document, the OLE Project is
intended to create a community of interest that could be tapped to build
the planned system in a follow-on project.

Contact:
Lynne O'Brien, Ph.D.
Director, Academic Technology and Instructional Services
Duke University Libraries
lynne.obrien at duke.edu or 919.660.5862

Ilene Nelson
Director of Communications
Duke University Libraries
ilene.nelson at duke.edu or 919.660.5816