Jane Bancroft Cook Library Joins Kuali Open Library Environment Project

New College of Florida/University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee’s Jane Bancroft Cook Library has joined a consortium of academic and research libraries in Florida and around the world to shape and implement the Kuali Open Library Environment (OLE) software which is designed specifically for the management of print and electronic collections.  A $2.38 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Indiana University (IU) will be used to develop the software.  The Florida Consortium is lead by the University of Florida,  a founding member of a national coalition of libraries.  Other members of the Florida Consortium are Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, Rollins College, University of Central Florida, University of Miami, University of South Florida and the Florida Center for Library Automation.

IU will lead the Kuali OLE  (pronounced Oh-LAY) project to develop “community source” software that will enable libraries to  effectively manage increasingly digital resources and collections.  The software will then be made available to libraries worldwide. Kuali OLE partners include Indiana University; Florida Consortium; Lehigh University; Triangle Research Libraries Network, represented by Duke University and North Carolina State University; University of Chicago; University of Maryland; University of Michigan; and the University of Pennsylvania.

“Through participation in this important project, the Cook Library staff will have input into the development of the next generation of library management systems,” said Brian Doherty, Dean of the Cook Library. “It also provides an opportunity for us to think innovatively about how we should deliver library services in the 21st century.”

The Jane Bancroft Cook Library is a shared service of New College of Florida and the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee. With a collection of more than 250,000 volumes as well as special collections, archives and other materials, the library is the central learning environment on two campuses and a resource to the broader Sarasota community.

“Students and faculty served by academic libraries increasingly seek 24-7 digital content access to support their studies and research,” said Judith Russell, Dean of Libraries at the University of Florida. “Developing new and improved management tools and access to these electronic resources is essential to delivery of high quality library services. We are delighted to join our colleagues in developing open access software to support our mission.”

“Large academic research libraries such as these manage and provide access to millions of items, using software to track interrelated transactions that range from ordering and paying for items to loaning materials to library patrons. As the nature of library collections expands to include more digital materials — including leased electronic journals and digitized photograph collections — libraries are increasingly interested in developing management software for these resources,” said Interim Ruth Lilly Dean of IU University Libraries Carolyn Walters.

“Libraries now create, lease and share digital materials, but the systems in place for cataloging and tracking these items are based on print collections,” said Walters. “With this project, we benefit from working together with a community of academic libraries that want to change the way that information is managed in the scholarly environment.”

“Research libraries are in dire need of systems that can support the management of research collections for the next-generation scholar,” said Robert H. McDonald, executive director for the project and IU’s associate dean for library technologies. “This approach demonstrates the best of open-source software development, directed partnership resource needs and a market of commercial support providers to truly align with the needs of research libraries within the higher education environment.”

More than 200 libraries, educational institutions, professional organizations and businesses laid the groundwork for the Kuali OLE project by participating in the original OLE project, a design phase that was supported by an earlier grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by Duke University.

Kuali OLE project researchers will now work to create a next-generation library system that breaks away from print-based workflows and reflects the changing nature of library materials and new approaches to scholarly work.

OLE became an official project of the Kuali Foundation in November. (Kuali is a community of universities, colleges, businesses and other organizations that have partnered to build and sustain community-source software for higher education.) This affiliation gives Kuali OLE tremendous expertise in developing and sustaining community-based software.

“The Mellon Foundation has a distinguished history of supporting transformative projects for education and cultural preservation,” said Brad Wheeler, Kuali Foundation board chair and vice president for Information Technology at IU. “We are grateful for their support of this open, extensible and deeply collaborative work among the OLE investing libraries. The libraries’ choice to anchor the project in the Kuali Foundation will ensure its quality, openness and sustainability for years to come.”

“The Kuali OLE collaboration comes at the perfect time,” said Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian & Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University. “If libraries are to provide excellent support for scholarship and teaching well into the future, we must develop a new model that reflects the true needs of our organizations and facilitates our work in a constantly changing environment. This partnership capitalizes on the experience, the commitment, and the energy of a key group of institutions to build that model for the future of research library operations. We are grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for recognizing the promise of the OLE project, and to Kuali for offering us this opportunity to align our goals with theirs.”

Jakubs and Wheeler were recently elected co-chairs of the Kuali OLE Board of Directors at its initial board meeting in Washington, D.C., on December 16, 2009.

For more information, contact the Office of Public Affairs at (941) 487-4153 or email [email protected].