PALCI and ConnectNY Libraries now Live on ReShare Hosted by Index Data

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Project ReShare LogoEarlier this month, library patrons of both the PALCI consortium and ConnectNY started using ReShare Shared Inventory and ReShare Returnables to request the delivery of books between campuses.  PALCI was the first consortium to go live and use these next-generation apps to expedite the movement of items between libraries—effectively broadening the base of knowledge available to these students, faculty, and staff. Index Data is providing hosting and implementation support for both the PALCI and ConnectNY ReShare installations.

In the press release announcing the service, PALCI’s executive director, Jill Morris, said: “ReShare will transform our ability to share our libraries’ collections and innovate in ways that will serve our patrons for years to come.” PALCI’s shared inventory contains nearly 16 million distinct items representing over 34 million physical copies among the 55 institutions. Pamela Jones, ConnectNY’s executive director, remarked: “It is exciting to be a part of an open source community where our ConnectNY members have a say in the ongoing development of a product.”

ReShare builds on the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP) by adopting the platform framework as well as certain core apps. Each member library runs the ReShare apps, hosted by Index Data. The ReShare apps connect to the library automation systems using NISO NCIP, ANSI Z39.50, and (when needed) custom connectors. Peer-to-peer communication between libraries uses the ISO 18626 standard.  

Index Data teamed up with Knowledge Integration to develop the core software. Project ReShare’s Apache 2.0 license ensures that this open source software is an asset held by the community for the long term.

Library staff at PALCI member libraries worked collaboratively to create the specifications for the ReShare Shared Inventory and Returnables apps and ConnectNY contributed subject matter experts. The libraries also provided access to 12 different ILSes allowing Index Data, with the support of Lehigh University, to develop the backend integrations. 

The Shared Inventory and Returnables apps are the first available from Project ReShare. Also on the roadmap are ReShare Non-returnables (for articles, book chapters, and other portions of whole works) and ReShare Controlled Digital Lending. Project ReShare invites interested community members to get involved in the specification, development, testing, and deployment of this sustainable, open source, and user-centered resource sharing platform for libraries.

If your library or consortia is interested in having Index Data host your ReShare installation, please contact us at info@indexdata.com. 

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Index Data Proudly Sponsors Code4Lib 2021

Index Data is pleased to announce its support of the Code4Lib 2021 virtual conference. The event, held during the week of March 22, brings together library technologists and allied professionals from libraries, vendors, projects, and other organizations. Index Data’s values align closely with the Code4Lib community: viewing software as a change agent. We are proud to demonstrate support for the people making open and collaborative solutions for higher education, libraries, museums, and archives.

In addition to a bronze-level financial commitment to the conference’s expenses, Index Data’s own Peter Murray serves as a co-chair of the planning committee and will emcee the final day’s program. Peter has long been involved in the live stream committee for the Code4Lib conference, and with this year’s virtual event he is bringing that experience to the planning committee.

We hope to “see” you at this year’s event and look forward to a time when we can meet in person again.

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PALCI and ConnectNY Partner with Index Data to Adopt ReShare

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Boston, MA – February 11, 2021 – Index Data is pleased to announce that the PALCI consortium and ConnectNY (CNY) will adopt ReShare to support their consortial resource sharing programs. The two consortia, both planning to go live this summer, will partner with Index Data for implementation, hosting, and support services.

By choosing ReShare, PALCI and CNY have affirmed their commitment to user-focused resource sharing services and an open, community-led approach to library software development. In addition to adopting the software, both consortia are founding members of the Project ReShare community and have contributed financial and personnel resources to the development of the ReShare product. 

PALCI has been involved with Project ReShare since the project’s inception in 2018. The consortium provided $100,000 in seed money to jumpstart user experience development, and PALCI’s Executive Director, Jill Morris, served as the first ReShare steering committee chair from 2018-2020. As PALCI has begun its implementation, additional consortia staff have worked closely with Index Data’s team to provide development partners for integrated library system (ILS) integrations and to help design documentation and implementation workflows.

“The power of ReShare is in its vision and its incredible community,” noted Morris. “We’re completely re-envisioning how libraries share. By partnering with Index Data to implement ReShare, we’re empowering libraries to serve our patrons and researchers with modern services that contain costs and support innovation.”

CNY became a member of Project ReShare in 2019. As consortia and library staff begin planning for go-live, CNY has begun to deepen its involvement with the ReShare community. The consortium will provide an ILS development partner and has contributed several members to the project’s Subject Matter Experts Team.

Pamela Jones, Executive Director of CNY, shares her enthusiasm, “It is very exciting to be an early adopter of ReShare and to partner with Index Data. CNY was looking for a new approach to resource sharing when we joined Project ReShare, and implementing a library-developed, owned, and managed product is very appealing to the CNY community.“

Index Data has led the development efforts behind ReShare since the start of the project. As a Project ReShare member and certified service provider, the company has contributed significant staff time in the areas of design and architecture, project management, and software development. This deep involvement in the creation of the ReShare software will allow Index Data to engage with consortia and libraries as a true partner invested in the success of the software and the community.

“At the heart of our participation in Project ReShare is the idea that the rules of engagement between users and developers of software must change,” says Index Data co-founder Sebastian Hammer. “Everyone in the library community, from leaders to practitioners to commercial entities, are faced with huge challenges and an urgent need to change and evolve in response to these challenges. We believe that collective ownership of technology and open collaborations can be a powerful agent of change, and we’re incredibly proud and excited to be working with PALCI and CNY and all of the other ReShare partners to make this vision a reality.”

About PALCI

PALCI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization, which originated in 1996 as the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc., a grassroots federation of 35 academic libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Known today as the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation, the PALCI membership now consists of 71 academic and research libraries in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, with a mission to enable cost-effective and sustainable access to information resources and services for academic libraries in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. PALCI Members partner to serve over 800,000 students, faculty, and staff, through a variety of programs, including the highly-regarded E-ZBorrow consortial borrowing service. www.palci.org 

About ConnectNY

CNY (ConnectNY, Inc.) is a consortium of independent academic institutions in New York State. The mission of ConnectNY is to share collections, leverage resources, and enhance services through cooperative initiatives and coordinated activities. A robust e-book program, a shared print trust, and OER program provide members with additional value. To learn more, visit www.connectny.org.

About Index Data

For over 25 years, Index Data has been building market-leading open source software and offering hosting, implementation services, and robust customer support relied on by libraries and service providers around the world. As a key stakeholder in Project ReShare and FOLIO, both community-owned, open platforms for resource sharing and library management, Index Data is uniquely positioned to provide customization and migration services for libraries looking to adopt the platforms. Together, we’re building the library platform of the future! To learn more about Index Data, visit www.indexdata.com.

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Metadb to be Discussed at CNI 2020 Fall Meeting

Index Data’s Nassib Nassar is presenting a project briefing at the CNI 2020 Fall Member meeting on Metadb, an open source, data analytics infrastructure.  Metadb fills a need for modern data management features in analytics such as real-time data streaming, data integration, and data versioning.  The project brings these capabilities to the Library Data Platform (LDP) as well as other applications such as science computing.

The abstract of the project briefing gives more information about Metadb:

This session offers perspectives from institutions using the Metadb data analytics platform.  Metadb builds on analytic databases to provide modern features such as real-time data streaming, data integration, and data versioning.  The system is designed as an end-to-end, open source data infrastructure for scalable analytics.  One year after Metadb was first launched, it is being deployed by an increasing number of universities and has a rapidly growing user community.

CNI Fall Meeting 2020 Schedule

The session will be broadcast on Wednesday, December 2 from 2:00pm – 2:30pm Eastern U.S. time for CNI members.  CNI often makes recordings of project briefings available on Vimeo and YouTube after the meeting.

Nassib joined Index Data in 2015 as the Senior Product Manager and Software Engineer focused on new innovation projects.  Prior to joining Index Data, Nassib held various positions in both university research and industry. He spent 8 years as Senior Research Scientist at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  For 9 years, he was Founder and CEO of Etymon Systems Inc, Princeton, NJ. He also served as Assistant Director of Informatics at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), Duke University, Durham, NC. Previously he worked as a Systems Analyst at the Clearinghouse for Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval (CNIDR) based in Research Triangle Park, NC.

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Index Data at the Charleston Conference, Nov. 2 – 6

On Thursday, November 5, from 5 PM to 6 PM, Index Data’s Sebastian Hammer, will be participating in Innovation Session 1 at the Charleston Conference. This year the conference will be held virtually due to the pandemic. The 60-minute session will focus on innovative or entrepreneurial thinking in libraries – new ways to solve problems, new technology or existing tech utilized in new ways, etc. It will feature four 8-minute presentations back-to-back, with a moderator for introductions, Q&A, and time keeping. Plenty of time will be allotted at the end of the session for audience questions and discussion. Sebastian will present with Kristina Rose (NYU) and Jill Morris (PALCI) on the topic of Recognizing opportunity: A path forward for controlled digital lending.

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Index Data’s Sebastian Hammer presents at the 2020 Library Leaders Forum on Project ReShare

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Each year, the Internet Archive hosts the Library Leaders Forum.  The theme this year is Empowering Libraries & Communities Through Digital Lending and the schedule of speakers reflect how library service impacted on a global scale due to COVID-19.  Index Data co-founder Sebastian Hammer is part of a panel discussion on October 13 to talk about Project ReShare.  Project ReShare is creating a new and open approach to library resource sharing systems, and the latest round of planned development includes functionality for controlled digital lending. Index Data is a leading developer of Project ReShare.


Registration for three days of events in October 2020 is available on the Library Leaders Forum website at https://www.libraryleadersforum.org/schedule/.

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Index Data joins Mass TLC Tech Compact for Social Justice

We Committed to the Tech Compact for Social Justice

Index Data is proud to announce that we, along with over 60 other Massachusetts technology companies, have joined the Tech Compact for Social Justice.  This initiative was established under the leadership of the Executive Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee (EDISC) of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (Mass TLC) to promote meaningful change in making Massachusetts’ tech industry more diverse, inclusive, and socially just for workers of all backgrounds. To participate in the Tech Compact, tech companies commit to change in three or more areas relating to diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Index Data, a long-term member of Mass TLC, embraced the opportunity to respond to the challenge.

At Index Data we have committed to the following:

  • Greater racial diversity in hiring, leadership development, and/or board composition.
  • Increasing financial contributions to existing organizations/ initiatives that support racial diversity, inclusion, economic opportunities, and/or social justice.
  • Providing increased resources to support employee learning and participation in activities related to social justice, anti-discrimination, and/or volunteerism.
  • Requiring companies on whose boards we sit to report on racially diverse hiring, leadership development, and promotion as well as include racial diversity metrics in evaluation of the CEO.
  • Greater racial diversity in talent pipeline development programs (internships, etc.).

This is an opportunity to continue to diversify our team and support social justice for all. We invite other companies to join us in this endeavor.  To learn more, visit https://www.masstlc.org/wecommit/ .

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Spokane Public Library Partners with Index Data to Adopt FOLIO

SPOKANE, WA – September 1, 2020 – Spokane Public Library announced today that it has chosen to partner with Index Data to help the Library adopt FOLIO. The Library aims to go live on FOLIO in the first half of 2021. 

FOLIO (an acronym for the Future Of Libraries Is Open) is an open source project that is reimagining library software through a unique collaboration of libraries, developers and vendors. It moves beyond the traditional library management system to a new paradigm where apps are built on an open platform. The apps-on-a-platform paradigm provides libraries with more choices and reduced development costs for delivering new services to users. The FOLIO platform includes core functionality found in current library management systems and is extensible, allowing libraries to meet ever-changing needs over time.

Robert Roose, Support Services Director for Spokane Public Library states, “We are embracing FOLIO for several reasons, but among the most important is the control and flexibility it provides, as an open source platform. Given Index Data’s role as architects and developers in the FOLIO community, their assistance was an obvious choice, not to mention that we’ve heard tremendous things about working with them. We’re excited!”

Mike Gorrell, Director of Index Data, noted, “We are honored to work with Spokane Public Library and their team on migration, self-hosting and support. We’re looking forward to sharing our expertise and helping them leverage FOLIO’s capabilities. It is especially exciting as they are the first Public Library to adopt FOLIO.” 

About Spokane Public Library

Spokane Public Library is a community of learning. We look to build cooperative networks for sharing knowledge and opportunity and be the resource for free learning opportunities for all citizens. The Library provides community groups and businesses with cutting edge resources to meet their goals in addition to providing its community with opportunities for personal enrichment.

About Index Data

For 25 years, Index Data has been building market-leading open source software relied on by libraries and service providers. As the lead architects/developers behind FOLIO’s novel design, Index Data has a unique understanding of the platform and offers hosting, migration, and customization services for libraries looking to adopt the FOLIO LSP. Index Data is also a key stakeholder in Project ReShare, a community-owned, open platform for resource sharing. Together, we’re building the library platform of the future. To learn more about Index Data, visit www.indexdata.com.

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For more information, please contact:

Mike Gorrell

Director, Index Data

mdg@indexdata.com

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FOLIO Libraries Announces Implementations and Timelines as the Open Source Library Platform Nears Significant Milestone

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Libraries around the world are beginning to implement FOLIO, the open source Library Services Platform, as it approaches a named release that signals a significant achievement in the development of initial apps, features and functionality. Read the press release here.

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Index Data at ICOLC Conference [ONLINE] – July 20 – 22

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On Wednesday, July 22 from 1:45-2:30 EDT, Kristen Wilson of Index Data will be doing a presentation on “Project ReShare: Consortial and Commercial Partnerships that Work” along with Jill Morris (PALCI) and Scott Garrison (MCLS) at the International Coalition of Library Consortia virtual conference.

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