jan. 24, 2007 / open repositories conference / san antonio it’s all in how you slice it fedora...

Jan. 24, 2007 / Open Repositories Conference / San Antonio

It’s All in How You Slice It

Fedora Outreach and Communications:

A Working Group Report

Carol Minton MorrisNational Science Digital Library

Stacy Pennington

Rhodes College


2006 Fedora Users Interview Survey goals

• To gather information from the community that would provide strategic direction for ramping up Fedora Outreach activities.


Survey team• Members of the Fedora Community Outreach

and Communications Group:– Carol Minton Morris NSDL, National Science Digital Library

– Stacy Pennington Rhodes College

– David Dinham National Library of Scotland

– Eric Jansson NITLE, National Institute for

Technology and Liberal Education


About the survey

• Target group: 45 known Fedora projects• Timeframe: August - November 2006 • Outreach: Multiple invitations and requests for

participation were issued through the Fedora list and wiki as well as through other organization lists.

• Method: Some participants completed the survey online . . . . Others completed the survey by phone with Outreach Group members

• Communication: Fedora list and wiki updates went went out throughout the survey period.


Questions: Questions: Developed by Outreach Group in collaboration with steering comm.


Participation

• 30% response rate--15 completed surveys• Additional data from the 2005 User Survey was

used as background for analysis


Question one

• How did you hear about Fedora?

– 45% from colleagues or personal connections

– 45% individual project research directed towards building a plan for better management of/access to digital resources

– 10% consortium research directed towards building a plan for better management of/access to digital resources


Question two

• Why did you chose Fedora?

1. Flexible, extensible, open

2. An architecture to build on

3. Institutional and consortium need to work with open source software

4. Peer development opportunities

5. Service based architecture

6. Technical evaluation of appropriateness for research repositories


Question three

• Were there economic advantages to your project/org. in selecting Fedora?

The Majority of respondents liked working with Open Source software, but cost savings were not the prime motivators in deciding to use Fedora. This is particularly true for large national projects and consortia who are more interested in “freedom and autonomy” and building out systems to meet specific requirements. “Fedora is future proof.”


Question six

• Do you see yourself as an active member of the Fedora community?

–3 “no,” 2 were projects who were still in planning stages

–“The success of Fedora as an ongoing collaborative architecture will float all boats.”


Question nine

• What should be the mission of an ongoing Fedora organization?

–“Shepherd the software in the direction that the web is going so that Fedora does not become an "aged" project.”

–“Provision of a sustainable ongoing development structure.”

–“An organization needs to keep coordinating development of the architecture.”

–“To evolve both the technology and the community by creating an organization that can leverage the successes of each.”

–“(1) A stable product backed by prompt user support (2) Ongoing development responsive to user needs (3) Evangelism: actively encouraging increased take-up of the product."

–“Would like lightweight solutions.”

–“Some efforts seem to have too much overhead.”


Who is the Fedora Community?


The Fedora Community is Scholarly Communication


The Fedora Community is Education


The Fedora Community is Museums and Libraries


The Fedora Community is eScience


The Fedora community is comprised of large and small institutional projects collaborating to extend repository access and services across multiple axes


So . . . planning for the future of Fedora Outreach and Communications really does depend on how you slice it.


Outreach and Communications Opportunities1. Members of the current Fedora community are

somewhat homogeneous with respect to their roles within their organizations. Respondents were primarily lead technical developers who were responsible for implementation strategies including analysis and planning.

Outreach and communications implication: Indicates lack of participation from non-technical Institutional leadership

2. Respondents found out about Fedora through serendipitous personal connections coupled with participation in conferences and web research.

Outreach and communications implication: Need to build a “top of the mind” awareness of repositories’ role in

the life of an institution--branding, branding, branding. Potential users had to dig to find out about Fedora.


Outreach and Communications Opportunities

3. Although Open Source development was important, Fedora was primarily selected because the architecture supported institutional goals over the short and long-term. “Fedora seemed ‘future proof’--able to accommodate whatever technologies would come along.”

Outreach and communications implication: The deep flexibility and agnostic nature of the architecture is it’s strongest asset with respect to telling the Fedora story to a wider audience interested in Web 2.0 applications and services. Illustrating this core strength for a non-technical audience to increase product awareness is critical.


Outreach and Communications Opportunities

4. Many respondents see themselves as active members of the Fedora community. Some respondents also saw a need to establish communities of practice focused on rapid development of solutions to micro community problems.

Outreach and communications implication: Implementation of a Fedora outreach, communications, and marketing plan that focuses on both external and internal audiences in all four areas--scholarly communication, eScience, education, and museums and libraries. Internal audience goals should include nurturing communications within these communities of practice leading to common deliverables.


Questions?

jan. 24, 2007 / open repositories conference / san antonio it’s all in how you slice it fedora...

Documents

fedora list

fedora community outreach

success of fedora

research repositories

fedora outreach activities

analysis slide

open source software

survey target group