Fenway Library Organization and Index Data Announce Partnership

BOSTON, MA – March 4, 2019 – Fenway Library Organization (FLO) has selected Index Data to support their adoption of the FOLIO Library Services Platform. The organizations will partner to migrate and support two of FLO’s members – Wentworth Institute of Technology and Simmons University – to FOLIO in June 2020. The rest of the FLO membership is looking to migrate to FOLIO in 2021.

FOLIO (an acronym for the Future Of Libraries Is Open) is an open source project that aims to reimagine 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, providing libraries more choice and 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.

Kevin Kidd, Director of the Library at Wentworth Institute of Technology and President of FLO remarked, “We are very excited to be launching FLO’s partnership with Index Data. FOLIO’s open, app-based library service model provides the flexibility to support the diverse core operational needs of FLO’s member libraries; but – perhaps even more crucially – we see FOLIO as an extremely adaptable platform for deployment of innovative new library technologies and services. Index Data’s unique expertise in the FOLIO project as visionaries, lead architects, developers, and now implementation and support providers will allow FLO libraries to successfully deploy a technology platform that can truly accommodate the ever-changing needs of our users. We are looking forward to a very productive collaboration with Index Data.”

Lynn Bailey, CEO of Index Data noted, “We are very pleased to be selected as a partner and to work with the great folks at FLO to help them improve the services they offer to their students, faculty, staff and the wider community. We intend to work closely with FLO’s technical team and to leverage our expertise to help them maximize the capabilities of the FOLIO platform. This engagement will help shape and strengthen the services we’re launching and we’re excited to move into this new phase with the project.”

Fenway Library Organization (FLO) is a consortium of 31 academic and special libraries in Massachusetts. Founded in 1987 as Fenway Libraries Online, FLO has been promoting resource sharing, encouraging staff development, and providing technical support for over thirty years. Learn more at www.flo.org, or contact Walter Stine, walter@flo.org.

Index Data has been the lead architect and developer for FOLIO since its inception. As a software company specializing in creating innovative products and tools for the library ecosystem for 25 years, it prides itself on delivering, hosting and supporting manageable, scalable, high-performing software to address complex challenges. Index Data offers a range of FOLIO services from software support to hosting to custom app development. Learn more at www.indexdata.com, or contact Lynn Bailey, lynn@indexdata.com.

 

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Index Data at ER&L Conference in Austin, TX – March 3 – 6, 2019

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On Monday, March 4, CEO Lynn Bailey, along with Tania Hewes Fersenheim from MIT Libraries, Jesse Koennecke from Cornell Universiy, Andrew Nagy from EBSCO, and Kevin Kidd from Wentworth Institute of Technology, will be speaking on “Pioneering new models for Library/Vendor Partnerships with the FOLIO project” at the Electronic Resources and Libraries 14th Annual Conference.

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Index Data is at Code4Lib and talking about Project ReShare

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On Feb. 22 at 11:20 AM, Kristen Wilson (Index Data) and Jill Morris (PALCI) will be delivering a presention on “Project ReShare: Development & Piloting of an Open Source Resource Sharing Platform” at Code4Lib 2019 in San José, California. If you can’t attend in person, presentations will be streamed and archived on the Code4Lib YouTube channel. Index Data is a Code4Lib sponsor.

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Meet Index Data at ALA Midwinter in Seattle

Index Data will be at ALA Midwinter in the Washington State Convention Center on January 25th through the 28th, and we would love to talk with you about our projects using technology to re-imagine how services are offered to your users.

In Presentations

Sebastian Hammer joins Peter McCracken from Cornell University for a session about FOLIO’s impact on the library marketplace in the Symposium on the Future of Libraries.  See if this quote from the session description whets your appetite:

What do you think a future library marketplace should it look like? Should it contain just a few giants (or, worse, just one), dominating the space and having sufficiently broad control that they significantly impact what you can and cannot acquire? Or would you prefer a broad range of content providers and vendors, offering a vibrant marketplace of products and ideas?

In an enormous marketplace like general retail, individual buyers don’t have much impact. I may choose to not buy from Amazon, but my decision will have no impact on Amazon’s bottom line. But in a small space like the library market, where each buyer represents so much more than an individual consumer in the broad marketplace, the actions of just a few libraries can impact the direction and development of that marketplace. Library decision-makers have the ability to impact the marketplace by thoughtfully determining how they spend money.

We believe that, if designed with care, the FOLIO Marketplace will be just such a dynamic place, where individuals and institutions can help shape our community’s future. The FOLIO Marketplace, and the manner in which FOLIO is being developed and distributed, changes how libraries can acquire the resources they need to keep providing newer and better services to their patrons.

Interested?  Join Sebastian and Peter on Saturday, January 26 from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM in the Washington State Convention Center, Room 606.

On the Exhibit Floor

When we are not in presentations or meetings with clients, you can find us on the exhibit floor in booth #2611.  We are located just inside the exhibit hall from the ALA Store and ALA Lounge.

At the FOLIO Aster Release Party

FOLIO Aster Release BadgeIndex Data joins the Open Library Foundation community in celebrating the Aster Release of the FOLIO software.  The release party will be Saturday, January 26 from 7:30 – 10:00 PM at the Pike Brewing Company on 1415 First Avenue in Seattle.  Whether you’ve actively participated in the project or want to see what a fun group we are, please RSVP and join us on Saturday evening.

On Your Schedule

We would love the opportunity to talk with you on your schedule.  Whether it’s our work on FOLIO, our efforts in Project Reshare to help launch a community-owned resource sharing platform, or our renowned discovery tools, we’re here to journey with you as you think about how technology impacts your services.  Please contact one of our team attending Midwinter to set up a time:

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Sebastian Hammer participates in the FOLIO Year-in-Review on Wednesday

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Index Data co-founder Sebastian Hammer is joined by Michael Winkler (managing director, OLE partners) and Christopher Spalding (vice president of open source platforms and communities, EBSCO) for a Year-in-Review webinar of the FOLIO Project.  Registration is open for the live webinar on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, at 11:00am Eastern U.S. time.  If the webinar is full – and to watch the recording after Wednesday – go to the Open Library Foundation YouTube channel.

Last year’s Year-in-Review is one of the project’s most watched videos, and this year promises to be the same.

 

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Project ReShare Launches: Community-owned Library Resource Sharing Platform Attracts Significant Contributions

A group of leading library and information organizations, including Index Data, has come together to create Project ReShare – a new and open approach to library resource sharing systems. ReShare aims to inject new life into this space by developing a community-owned resource sharing platform.

ReShare’s open source software will be built with a modular architecture focused on user-centric design. Organizations can adapt the system to their specific needs and experiment with new service models. Users will have the option to install the platform locally or select a preferred vendor for hosting and support. ReShare’s Apache 2.0 software license will allow libraries, developers, and vendors to innovate freely. Project ReShare is currently seeking membership in the Open Library Foundation, which will own the project’s intellectual property.

To read the full press release, go to http://www.palci.org/news/project-reshare-launches-community-owned-library-resource-sh.html

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Index Data at European BIBFRAME Workshop, Sept. 18 – 19

Index Data’s Kristen Wilson will give a talk at the European BIBFRAME Workshop, to be held September 18-19 in Florence, Italy. She will present “Exploring the Practical Implementation of a Linked Data Catalog,” which will describe exploratory work being done by Index Data and the University of Chicago to build a BIBFRAME-based storage system in FOLIO. The workshop will provide a forum for participants to share experiences and discuss ideas related to the transition from MARC to linked data using the BIBFRAME model.

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Visit Index Data at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, Booth #930!

Index Data will be exhibiting at the 2018 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition, June 21 – 26, so drop by and visit us at Booth #930. We would love to see you! For a free exhibit pass, please send us an email.

If you’d like to chat, call us to set something up in advance, since our schedule tends to get a little crowded during the conference.

 

Index Data is exhibiting at ALA Annual 2018 in New Orleans

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FOLIO Update and Demo at Fenway Library Organization

On May 25th, Lynn Bailey, CEO (Index Data), and Harry Kaplanian, Senior Product Manager for FOLIO (EBSCO) gave an update on the FOLIO project and a demo of current functionality for the Fenway Library Organization.

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Index Data Proud to Sponsor WOLFcon

The FOLIO community is vibrant, and Index Data is proud to be a major sponsor of the WOLFcon conference in May 2018. WOLFcon – World Open Library Foundation Conference – will convene about 200 people from all over the world to discuss strategy, fine-tune technical direction, plan implementations and deepen relationships.

Sebastian Hammer, a keynote speaker, says “The collaboration within the FOLIO community has been awesome, and bringing these virtual teams together to meet in person provides an extra jolt of energy and creativity. It’s a brilliant thing to see.”

The 4-day conference will be held in Durham, NC.  For more information see http://wolf-con.org .

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