Public Knowledge Project: From Open Source to Community Source

Session Type: Research/Project Update

Session Description:
This session will provide a progress report on the Public Knowledge Project’s evolving relationship with its new development partners and their impact on PKP’s software activities and overall governance of the project. It will also highlight the recent production release of Open Monograph Press (OMP) and the key roles already being played by the partners.

In 2011 PKP launched a sustainability initiative to ensure the ongoing development and support of Open Journal Systems (OJS) and other PKP software. One intent was to reduce the reliance on grant funding, but the more significant driver was the continued uptake and use of the software and the realization that a single, relatively small team was an insufficient resource in the long term.

A key strategy of the PKP’s sustainability program was to leverage the growing user community and encourage their more direct participation in the ongoing development and support of the software, and the evolution of the project into a more sustainable entity. PKP was already receiving significant community support in traditional open source ways – code contributions, language translations, participation in testing new releases, and so on. But this was also very informal and ad hoc and not being managed in a very proactive manner. PKP actively sought out sites that were interested and able to become development partners and provide both financial and in-kind support. By mid-2012, three development partners – University of Pittsburgh Libraries, California Digital Library, and University of British Columbia Libraries – have joined forces with PKP.

Session Leaders:
Brian Owen, Simon Fraser University Library/Public Knowledge Project
Barbara Hui, California Digital Library
Lisa Schiff, California Digital Library
Alec Smecher, Public Knowledge Project

Session Notes:
View the community reporting Google doc for this session!

Session Slides: