Presented by Brenda Johnson, Ruth Lilly Dean of Indiana University Libraries, at the Kuali Days UK conference, 29 October 2013.

1. Developing a New Model for
Library Collaboration:
Kuali OLE
Brenda L. Johnson
Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries
Indiana University
October 29, 2013

2. Indiana University-Bloomington
 Founded in 1820
 Located in the city of Bloomington
in southern Indiana
 Flagship campus of the Indiana
University system
 More than 42,000 students
(approximately 10,000 grad
students)
 More than 2,900 faculty across 12
schools and the College of Arts &
Sciences
 More than 330 undergraduate
programs and 190 graduate
degree programs

3. Indiana University’s Academic Strengths
 1st School of Informatics in the United States
 Jacobs School of Music among the most
comprehensive and acclaimed institutions for the study
of music
 School of Public and Environmental Affairs—ranked
2nd of 266 schools of public affairs in the U.S.
 International Studies – over 70 languages taught,
including some taught nowhere else in the U.S.; more
than 100 overseas programs in 40 countries
 Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and
Reproduction, founded in 1947

4. IU Bloomington Libraries Highlights
• Recognized in 2010 as top university library by Association of
College and Research Libraries (ACRL)
• Home to the first CIC Shared Print Repository
• 1 of 6 institutions to receive a CLIR Data Curation Fellow
• Internationally renowned Lilly Library
• With IU Data to Insight Center and the University of Illinois,
leading co-development of HathiTrust Research Center
The rare books, manuscripts, and
special collections library of the
Indiana University Libraries,
Bloomington

5. Open Folklore Project
• Libraries partner with American Folklore Society on
Open Folklore, a scholarly resource that fosters open
access scholarship in the field of folklore studies.
• Winner of 2011 ALCTS (Association of Library
Collections and Technical Services) Outstanding
Collaboration Citation
• IU Libraries’ Folklore Collection first Google Books
―Collection of Distinction‖

6. Development of Avalon Media System
• IU with Northwestern University leading the development
of the Avalon Media System– an open-source software
intended to easily manage, distribute and provide online
access to video and audio collections, in support of
teaching, learning and research
• National Leadership Grant of $947,963 from the Institute
of Museum and Library Services
www.avalonmediasystem.org/

7. What is OLE?
• Open-source integrated library system—
designed by librarians for librarians
• Built to support resource sharing for
consortia
• Flexible—not tied to format or material type
• Could replace some resource management
systems we currently use

8. OLE Status
•
•
Other library open source
projects have lacked the
firm foundation provided by
Kuali Foundation, Kuali
partners, and commercial
affiliates
OLE leverages code from
other Kuali Foundation
software
 a nonprofit umbrella group for
open-source software for
universities

9. “If you want to run fast, run alone. If you want to
run far, run together.” an African proverb

10. Our Kuali OLE Partners

11. Brief History of Kuali OLE
2008-2009 - Mellon Funded Open Library Project Investigation
2009-2010 - Formed Build Partnership of 8 higher education
institutions
2010-2012 - Joined Kuali Foundation and started Build Phase
Funded by Andrew W Mellon Foundation & the Kuali OLE
Partnership for a 2 year software build phase
2012-2013 - Additional 3rd year of matching funding for Kuali OLE
and GOKb /KB+ Initiative funding from the Andrew W Mellon
Foundation
2013-2014 - Proposal submitted to Mellon Foundation for 4th year
matching funding for OLE development pending Mellon Board
approval (12/2013)
2008-2013 - Building a flexible, service-oriented, enterprise library
management system for academic & research libraries that takes
advantage of deep collaboration (personnel sharing, expertise
sharing, financial shared investment) among partner libraries

12. IU Libraries Involvement in Kuali OLE
2008-2009 – Advisor and monitoring progress of the Open
Library initiative
2009-2010 – Involved in leadership and Library2Library
investment pitch of build proposal
2010-2012 – Actively involved with shared personnel and
expertise for developing Kuali OLE
2012-2013 – Lead school for 3rd year Mellon Proposal and
worked closely with NCState to drive GOKb/Kb+ initiative by
partners with more e-resources management expertise
2013-2014 – Lead school for 4th year Mellon Proposal and
developing implementation plan for OLE for entire IU System

14. In the last seven years…
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•
•
•
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iPhones
iPads
Twitter
Hulu
Cloud computing

15. In the last seven years…
• Global Recession
• Housing bubble
bursts
• Intense criticism of
higher ed’s quality,
costs, and relevance
• Big Data
• OSTP action
opening up federally
funded research
OSTP Director John Holdren talks to President Obama in
this undated White House photo.

16. In the last seven years…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MOOCs
Coursera
Altmetrics
Mendeley
VIVO
Hydra
Islandora
DuraSpace

17. In the last seven years….
•
•
•
•
•
Shared Print Repositories
HathiTrust
DPN – Digital Preservation Network
DPLA – Digital Public Library of America
Academic Preservation Trust

18. Drastically changed environment
for research libraries
• Nature of libraries and their use is
changing
• print to electronic
• local to shared
• increased focus on services
• Changing scholarly communication
patterns
• Changing student behaviors
• New technologies and scholarly
tools
• User expectations are increasingly
sophisticated

19. OLE: Not Just About Building Software;
Also About Building Talent

20. How OLE Helps Bridge the Talent Gap
• Stimulates thinking about what new
talent we need in libraries
• Fosters development of our own
talent
• Helps not only to grow, but retain
needed skill sets

21. Why Libraries Need the OLE Model for
Market Diversity
• Avoids dependency on a single
provider
• Cloud neutral runs in anybody’s cloud
• Keeps library funding within libraries
• Provides for long-term development
and enhancement (open model
attracts talented people)

22. IU Libraries and Collaboration: In the
Enterprise and Beyond
•
•
•
•
Kuali OLE is but one
example in our current
ecosystem at the IU
Libraries
Most of this software is
open source or communitysourced in nature
Library ecosystem is
diverse in information
systems needs but small in
marketshare
Fits with Library and
Institutional IT Strategic
Planning

23. In Research and Higher Education:
Does One Size Fit All?

24. The Future for OLE
• Provide core functionality for today but be open
and flexible with an eye towards the future
• Early implementers get a strong voice and
functionality prioritization
• A roadmap has been developed. See:
http://www.kuali.org/ole/timeline

25. More on Kuali OLE
• Web Site- http://ole.kuali.org
• Test-Drive- http://kuali.org/testdrives
• Blog- http://kualiole.tumblr.com
• Twitter- @kualiole
• LinkedInhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/Kuali-OLE2653081