The Library is Open

We are happy to announce our newest session of The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Marshall Breeding, an independent consultant, speaker, and the author of Library Technology Guides. Listen as Jessie and Marshall discuss the current ILS landscape and the Open Source Community.

Marshall Breeding is an independent consultant, speaker, and author. He is the creator and editor of Library Technology Guides and the libraries.org online directory of libraries on the Web. His monthly column Systems Librarian appears in Computers in Libraries; he is the Editor for Smart Libraries Newsletter published by the American Library Association, and has authored the annual Library Systems Report published in American Libraries since 2014. Library Journal from 2002-2013 and by He has authored nine issues of ALA’s Library Technology Reports, and has written many other articles and book chapters. Marshall has edited or authored eight books, including Cloud Computing for Libraries published by in 2012 by Neal-Schuman, now part of ALA TechSource . He regularly teaches workshops and gives presentations at library conferences on a wide range of topics.

Read more about Marshall Breeding at Library Technology Guides

We are happy to announce our newest session of The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features a LIVE interview with Ian Walls, from WOLFcon20 at Texas A&M University. Ian Walls and host, Jessie Zairo, discuss the OLF Community, the current state of FOLIO and Ian’s role in the community.

Ian earned his MLIS and MS in Computer Science from the University of Rhode Island in 2008. While there, he worked for URI’s Web Development Group, implementing blog software, project management software and anti-spam security measures. After that Ian joined ByWater Solutions, supporting hundreds of libraries, developed new features for Koha, and provided on site training for several of the company’s partners. Over the last several years Ian has worked as the Web Services and Emerging Technologies Librarian at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

WOLFcon is an annual conference open to all members of the Open Library Foundation community, and to anyone who wants to learn more about the Foundation and the open source communities that are a part of it.

Read more at: WOLFcon

The Open Library Foundation was created in 2016 as an unbiased, independent not-for-profit organization to ensure the availability, accessibility and sustainability of open source and open access projects for and by libraries. The Foundation seeks to enable and support collaboration among librarians, technologists, designers, service providers and vendors to share expertise and resources and to create innovative new software and resources that support libraries. We believe that open discourse in a diverse and inclusive community will better identify and characterize challenges and opportunities, and enable paradigm-shifting solutions.

Read more at: OLF

ByWater Solutions is a full service, high quality Open Source support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their systems than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in first rate implementation and support services with library systems of all sizes for the Koha ILS, Aspen Discovery, Folio LSP, Coral ERM, and Libki PC Management.

Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions not only lowers the cost of implementation and maintenance of OSS, but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve.

For more information please visit: ByWater Solutions

We are happy to announce our newest session of The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Mike Wells, Library Director at Benedictine Library at Thomas More University and The Salus Data Consulting team which consists of Hrusto Selimovic, Jared Nelson, Corey Zamrik, Jash Patel, and Spencer White. The group talks to us about their involvement with a library website analytics project and how that grew into a consulting company. Listen as the group discusses taking the project from start to finish and how the library helped them build their new venture.

Thomas More University is a small liberal arts university with a big reputation. Thomas More is consistently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best regional universities in the South. Founded in 1921 by the Benedictine Sisters as Villa Madonna College, the University now serves more than 2,000 students from across the country and around the world on its beautiful Crestview Hills, Kentucky campus, located just minutes from downtown Cincinnati.

Read more at: University

The Benedictine Library serves as the focal point of a student’s academic life at Thomas More University (TMU), acting as a gateway for both independent and collective learning, research, and discovery. We provide quality resources and services to our students, faculty, and staff, helping to facilitate access to information, technology, and education. Resources meet the needs of TMU students, faculty, and staff, focused primarily on the student experience and academic curricula. Our Librarians interact with students, faculty, and staff in meeting information needs and achieving instructional goals. Faculty collaborate with librarians to fulfill and support research-based curricula.

Read more at: Library

The Salus Data Consulting team consists of Hrusto Selimovic, Jared Nelson, Corey Zamrik, Jash Patel, and Spencer White. They consult with various businesses and institutions in an effort to provide a viable privacy-centric alternative to Google Analytics and other commercial providers. We want people to better protect and collect their data. We seek to not only to provide this service but to educate our audience on how commercial providers monetize the data of users to third party advertising entities.

Read more at: Consulting

Watch a quick video from Thomas More University: Thankful Thursday - Library Project

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Laura Wright, Assistant Director, Metadata Production at Cornell University. Laura talks to us about why she is so passionate about the FOLIO Open Source Platform.

Laura is an active member of the FOLIO Open Source Community. Her FOLIO Project Role is a Functional Expert and her SIG Participation includes Forum Facilitator, Metadata Management SIG. You can read more about Laura’s involvement on the FOLIO Wiki.

Read more about Laura here: LinkedIn

The mission of Cornell University Library promotes a culture of broad inquiry and supports the University’s mission to discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge and creative expression. It engages with the ongoing transformations of society to deliver world-class physical and digital content and services critical to research, education, and outreach, now and in the future. The Library acts globally, supporting Cornell’s land grant mission in New York State and beyond, and builds partnerships within and outside the university. It invests in its staff, collections, and physical and virtual libraries. And, it serves as a neutral and trusted party supporting information access and scholarly communication. Read more at:https://www.library.cornell.edu/about/inside/mission

FOLIO is a collaboration of libraries, developers and vendors building an open source library services platform. It supports traditional resource management functionality and can be extended into other institutional areas. Read more at: https://www.folio.org/about/

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Christine Peterson, Engagement and Emerging Technologies Coordinator at Amigos Library Services. Christine talks to us today about their involvement in the SimplyE project developed by the New York Public Library. SimplyE was developed as an open source project that allows libraries to provide a single platform for their ebook collections. Listen as Christine discusses hosting, marketing and their support of the SimplyE platform.

SimplyE is The New York Public Library’s free e-reader app that makes it easier than ever to borrow e-books. Developed by NYPL as an open source initiative, now other libraries can provide a consolidated and clear view of their e-book collections.

Read more at: NYPL SimplyE

SimplyE Open Reading Platform on GitHub: An Open Source Ebook platform to simplify finding and reading ebooks from libraries.

Amigos is a not-for-profit membership-based organization dedicated to serving libraries. They are one of the largest library service networks in the nation. Whether it’s for continuing education, member discounts, or professional advice, they are there for their members.

Amigos Library Services is a hosting provider for the SimplyE app, which combines titles from multiple ebook and audiobook providers into a single, easy-to-use list for your patrons. Browsing, searching, and downloading is simple, without the complication of Adobe IDs for your patrons.

Read more about Amigos at: SimplyE

As the Engagement & Emerging Technologies Coordinator, Christine works with members to identify their needs and create services to assist them. She also follows technology trends to discover how Amigos can promote and support these project, possibly bringing them to our members as Amigos services. Currently, she guides the implementation of the SimplyE service, an open source app that brings multiple ebook feeds into a single, easy-to-use interface for patrons.

She is also known for her technology training throughout the Southwest, making complicated topics easy for librarians to understand. Prior to joining Amigos, she was the Manager for Continuing Education & Consulting at the Texas State Library & Archives Commission, guiding and supporting libraries statewide. She also worked for both San Antonio College and the Florida Institute of Technology as their systems librarian, converting their library catalogs to automated systems.

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Lisa Sjögren, Librarian at Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Communication and Learning in Science. Lisa pours her energy into why their Library has chosen the FOLIO Open Source Platform for their new LSP.

Chalmers University of Technology was named the first FOLIO Beta Partner for EBSCO Information Services. https://www.folio.org/about/news-events/article/chalmers-university-of-technology-named-first-folio-beta-partner-for-ebsco-information-services/

You can read more about the Chalmers implementation on the FOLIO wiki at: https://wiki.folio.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=14461407. They plan to go live in Autumn of 2019.

Chalmers Library has a wonderful blog where they discuss journeys of a FOLIO early implementer, a new library system built from scratch and more at https://blog.lib.chalmers.se/tag/folio/.

Lisa is a systems and metadata librarian. She works to ensure the visibility, retrievability and accessibility of their collections, through data quality and the smooth operations of their ILS and discovery system.

Currently, within the framework of Chalmers’ beta partnership with EBSCO, Lisa is working with the implementation at Chalmers of open source, community driven, library service platform FOLIO. As a core member of the Chalmers FOLIO implementation team, she works closely with EBSCO and the FOLIO community to ascertain that FOLIO will provide a seamless and intuitive user experience for library staff and patrons. Read more about Lisa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisamsjogren/

Chalmers University of Technology is researching and educating in technology, science, shipping and architecture, with a sustainable future as a comprehensive vision. Chalmers is known for its efficient innovation environment and has 13 institutions. Graphene Flagship, one of the European Commission’s first research initiatives within Future Emerging Technologies, is coordinated by Chalmers. Located in Gothenburg, Chalmers has about 10,300 full-time students and 3,100 employees. Read more at: http://www.lib.chalmers.se/

FOLIO is a collaboration of libraries, developers and vendors building an open source library services platform. It supports traditional resource management functionality and can be extended into other institutional areas. Read more at: https://www.folio.org/about/

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Sarah Sawicki, Planning & Projects Director and Phillip Higgins, Marketing and Digital Strategy Director at the Richland Library in South Carolina. They are joined by Sally Shaughnessy, Director, Project Management at Aten Design Group in Denver, Colorado. In this podcast we discuss Intercept, an open source event, room, equipment management and customer tracking system.

Intercept is made for libraries by libraries, but in the end, it’s all about the customer.

An experienced project manager, Sarah Sawicki joined Richland Library in 2012 as Virtual Services Project Manager and has been championing the 12-location system ever since. Now serving as Planning and Projects Director, she guides cross-functional teams through human-centered design to plan and execute new and improved products, services and spaces. She advises other staff serving as project managers on strategic initiatives and ensures the use of data to make informed decisions. Outside of the library, she taps her way through life using her project management superpowers to raise teenaged twin girls, a tween boy, and a pre-teen Oktoberfest Columbia.

Phillip serves as the Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy for Richland Library - one of the most progressive, award-winning public libraries in the country. There, he leads a team of developers, marketers and creatives on a mission to deliver and implement innovative strategies that enhance the customer experience while continuously growing the library’s brand. A self-described Agile evangelist, Phillip leads the web development efforts for Richland Library’s website as well as other digital assets.

Phillip regularly speaks at events around the country, talking about the work that Richland Library does for the community and the strategies and tactics that his team employs to support that work. He is “uber happy” (his words) to share what he’s learned with others and to help everyone reimagine what it means to be a 21st century library.

Sally has been working in digital strategy and delivery since 2005, mostly with creative agencies developing cross-channel campaigns for the likes of Starbucks, Pepsi, Quicken, and The Home Depot. She thrives on helping the creative “makers” bring ideas to life and delivering beautiful, intuitive digital experiences. Sally is a certified Scrum Master and uses her experience as a news reporter to value diverse perspectives, drive collaboration, and bring the best out of teams.

When she is not retooling a roadmap or gathering site requirements, Sally is an avid camper and homebrewer. She also sits on the board of Bella Boutique, a unique Denver non-profit providing free prom gowns to teens in financial need.

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Brian Pichman, the Director of Strategic Innovation at the Evolve Project. He speaks a lot about innovative technology within libraries and loves collaborating with both libraries and companies.

Brian Pichman is an entrepreneur, innovator, and collaborator.As Director of Strategic Innovation at the Evolve Project, he works with libraries to create makerspaces and fab labs, and provides the coaching and guidance needed to take their environments to the next level. Brian speaks a lot about innovative technology as a presenter and loves collaborating with both libraries and companies. He is dedicated to bringing libraries into the future using cost effective measures and strategies. Much of Evolve’s work includes bridging the digital divide, breaking away from “traditional library views”, becoming trend setters and finding or building innovative works geared towards interaction and collaboration. He has also been working with start-up companies across the country, promoting libraries and encouraging people to work closer with libraries in developing new ideas and concepts.

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Michael Kucsak, Assistant Dean and Chief of Staff at Virginia Tech University Libraries. In this session Michael discuses why the freedom, flexibility and support system offered by ByWater and Koha was the best choice for the University Libraries. He also talks about managing change, setting the stage for a migration, successful communication and other aspects that prepared them for a migration from a propriety ILS to open source.

Michael is a graduate of Florida State University’s School of Library and Information Studies. As a professional librarian, Michael has worked for non-profit library consortia, public, private, k-12 and University libraries. He has been a library technology consultant for several different libraries including the State Library of Florida. While in the private sector, Michael became a Six Sigma Black Belt. Today he combines his skills in process improvement with his experience in library technology as the Assistant Dean and Chief of Staff for Virginia Tech. He continues to present around the country on topics that include process improvement in the library, eBooks, and enhanced discovery services.

You can watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel, listen right here, subscribe to our podcast, or all of the above. Enjoy!

We are happy to announce our newest session for The Library is Open Podcast! Today’s session features an interview with Trey Gordner, Founder and CEO of Koios. Trey’s goal is to help libraries fulfill their mission in the digital age. In this session of The Library is Open Podcast, Trey discusses Koios, working with libraries, and what is on the horizon.

Koios began when Trey pitched a library software idea at Startup Weekend Columbia in November 2014. The idea was a browser extension that checked the library for you from Amazon. A great team came together, built a prototype in just 54 hours, and won the competition. This wasn’t Trey’s first run-in with libraries: he’d been working in and out of them for 5 years, and had just finished consulting with Richland Library on attracting young professionals and technologists. Read more about Koios and how they help libraries.

Koios makes free library resources visible in Google search results. They combine a proprietary technology platform (http://www.readlibre.com) with expertise in search engine marketing and search engine optimization, so that libraries appear side-by-side with Amazon. This increases the use of public resources, engenders support for public libraries, and lowers the barrier to lifelong learning.

Looking for more information about Koios to get your library started? Contact them today.