Knowledge Integration will be leading the development of open source resource sharing for libraries, including features for intra-consortial borrowing, in a new project for the Open Library Foundation.
OpenRS delivers services to support consortial resource sharing. It accommodates the full spectrum of mediated and unmediated resource sharing, including seamless unmediated intra-consortial borrowing functionality. The software will provide a containerized code base configured for ease of deployment, maintenance, and upgrades. Libraries and consortia can choose to host the service locally or with a third party.
The Open Resource Sharing Coalition is a partnership between libraries, developers, and vendors. We’re incredibly proud to be working with EBSCO Information Services and the library community to develop software, protocols, and best practices for resource sharing. As Ian Ibbotson, says “For more than twenty years, Knowledge Integration has worked with and listened to the needs of the library community, evolving the way we bring these institutions together. With OpenRS, we have found a kinship with libraries and organizations with the vision and intellectual curiosity to conceive of a genuinely open resource sharing ecosystem designed around library and patron needs rather than a short-term business opportunity.”
We look forward to collaborating with community members on this project, including representatives from the MOBIUS consortium, GALILEO/University System of Georgia (USG), Marmot Library Network, Boston Library Consortium, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, and others.
More detail about the project can be found in the original press release on the Open Library Foundation’s website: “Partnership Between Libraries, Open Source Developers, and Vendors to Enhance Consortial Resource Sharing”