[Web4lib] Re: Announcement: Open Source In Libraries Website

[Ross Singer]

I think my point is that absolutely zero effort was made to see if the
oss4lib community would be interested in widening its tent for such an
effort.  Honestly, oss4lib (both the site and the mailing list) are
pretty low-traffic, there's just not that much "news" about OSS
produced by libraries at any given time.  I think an injection of
energy and renewed interest would be greatly beneficial, but that's
just me speaking.

It seems totally appropriate that such an educational initiative
should happen in the same place that opensource being *produced* by
libraries.  Connect the interested to the experienced, etc. etc.

Instead, it looks like we'll have two communities and two mailing
lists.  Two communities, I note, that would have been completely
ignorant of each other if not for this mailing list thread.

-Ross.

On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 1:56 PM, Chadwick Seagraves <chadwick at palni.edu> wrote:
> Ross,
>  I know Jeff Humphrey and "know of" Allen Tate.  I don't think Allen was
>  making a comparison and *I* simply stated that there is room for more
>  coverage of  OSS, or FLOSS, (whichever acronym you prefer) for
>  libraries.  It seemed to me that Allen's statement about it being a "we
>  thing instead of a me thing" was meant to encourage participation and
>  stimulate involvement rather than anything else.
>
>  It is easy for veterans in this area to forget that some librarians are
>  still in an information seeking mode and evaluation phases of their open
>  source education.  I speak from experience in this regard.  Open Source
>  is a 'buzzword' right now for LIS and many of the administrators who
>  hear it have no clue what it really means - it's applications,
>  limitations, development requirements, etc.
>
>  This is a site based in Indiana that will draw lots of local folks, in
>  addition to out-of-state users.  In the context of the principles of
>  freedom and shared development that open source is based on, I would
>  think that diversity, multiple options for access to information, and
>  inclusiveness would be welcomed rather than condemned.  I can't see how
>  another community would hurt open source discussions.  Users groups, web
>  forums, and topical communities spring up to address a need. If the need
>  is big enough it stands to reason that there will be more of them that
>  arise.
>
>  Perhaps it was my mistake to have mentioned oss4lib at all.
>
>  Just an opinion...
>
>  --
>
> *Chadwick J. Seagraves:* M.S.L.S
>  Library Systems Analyst
>  Private Academic Library Network of Indiana
>  Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority
>  (317) 298-6570 ext. 116 or (800)-733-1899
>  6202 Morenci Trail
>  Indianapolis, IN 46268
>  palni.edu <http://www.palni.edu>
>  InfoSciPhi.info <http://www.infosciphi.info>
>
>  Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:57:15 -0400
>  From: "Ross Singer" <rossfsinger at gmail.com>
>  Subject: [Web4lib] Re: [CODE4LIB] Announcement: Open Source In
>         Libraries       Website
>  To: "Code for Libraries" <CODE4LIB at listserv.nd.edu>,
>         "web4lib at webjunction.org" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
>  Message-ID:
>         <23b83f160803270857o55d4deddk740f8d752c334962 at mail.gmail.com>
>  Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
>
>  How is oss4lib.org and oss4lib-discuss not a "we" thing?
>
>  How is yet another community based around a rather small domain a good thing?
>
>  -Ross.
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 11:11 AM, Chadwick Seagraves <chadwick at palni.edu> wrote:
>
>  > >
>  > > This might be of interest to some of you.  I know that oss4lib has been
>  > >  around for a while, but I think there is room for more coverage.
>  > >  --
>
>
>
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