LYRASIS and DuraSpace Boards Approve “Intent to Merge” and Seek Your Input

ATLANTA - Jan. 28, 2016 - PRLog -- January 27, 2016, Atlanta, GA - The Boards of LYRASIS and DuraSpace, two leading member-based non-profit organizations serving archives, libraries, museums, as well as the broader scholarly, cultural heritage and technology communities, have unanimously approved an “Intent to Merge”. LYRASIS, which serves more than 4000 members and information professionals by delivering eResources, strategic licensing, training and digital technology resources and DuraSpace, a leader in the development and deployment of open source technologies and services that promote durable access and discovery of digital data, will begin next steps to determine the feasibility of a combined organization. These next steps will include a deeper assessment of the individual organizations and how they might partner effectively, seeking community feedback on the proposal and a more public phase of due diligence investigation.

The respective boards unanimously approved an “Intent to Merge”, which means the organizations, having done a careful initial investigation, will move into a public phase to consider an official plan and pathway for the potential coming together, including a full analysis of member benefits. The decision to eventually come together is not yet final. In this more public phase of investigation, each organization seeks feedback from members of their organizations and will investigate carefully the value of all services, projects, membership models and organizational cultures to ensure a smooth transition for members of both organizations.

The proposed new organization will continue to serve the LYRASIS and DuraSpace communities by sustaining and growing their combined open source platforms (Fedora, DSpace, VIVO, ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace) and hosted services (ASpace, CSpace, Islandora, DuraCloud, DSpaceDirect, ArchivesDirect). When finalized, the combined organization will expand its portfolio by offering new technologies and services that further their existing work in the management and preservation of digital scholarship. The new organization will focus on supporting current communities with no reduction in the delivery of services offered by LYRASIS and DuraSpace, while engaging a larger and more diverse group of stakeholders. LYRASIS will continue to support and advance all established commitments, programs and services as well as the commitment to strategic licensing of eResources, products and services which will continue without interruption.

The planned, new organization would be led by an executive team consisting of Robert Miller (Chief Executive Officer) and Debra Hanken Kurtz (Chief Operating Officer) and operate out of existing offices in San Francisco, California, Atlanta, Georgia and Austin, Texas.

Send comments, suggestions and questions to synergy@duraspace.org.

“Combining the teams and technologies of LYRASIS and DuraSpace will allow us to deliver better and more cost effective end-to-end digital solutions and services to the communities we serve,” explained Robert Miller, CEO of LYRASIS.

Debra Hanken Kurtz, CEO of DuraSpace, said, “By joining with LYRASIS, DuraSpace will be able to bring our services to a wider membership audience. We will also expand and support our services, and continue our commitment to steward the development of community-supported software. Our members and the archives, libraries and museums communities will all benefit.”

“The new organization has the potential to transform the larger landscape of libraries, archives and museums by providing multiple pathways for them to connect, collaborate and participate at a local, national and international level. If this merger is finalized, LYRASIS will be able to offer value to members that goes far beyond fairly priced e-resources. The merger will create a robust offering of technical solutions, enriched training and the creation of a unified platform that can meet its members’ diverse needs. says Kathlin Ray, Dean of Libraries and Teaching & Learning Technologies at the University of Nevada, Reno and Chair of the LYRASIS Board of Trustees.

Paul Courant, former Provost and former Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan, who is Chair of the DuraSpace Board, added that the combined organization "have the opportunity to provide a full suite of services that will serve as a foundational platform for digital scholarship to manage research and cultural heritage materials for a broad range of institutions. We have the opportunity to become the home for community source software, providing cost effective solutions for research institutions, libraries, museums, archives, and cultural heritage organizations to ensure that their collections are preserved and accessible for future generations."


Key points regarding the LYRASIS and DuraSpace “Intent to Merge”

• The DuraSpace and LYRASIS boards have voted and approved an intent to merge.
• Coming together will unite each organization’s open-source technology programs under one roof, along with Licensing and Partnerships, training and membership services.
• The organizations have not yet come together, and are moving into a more public phase of investigation at this time.
• The DuraSpace and LYRASIS boards have conducted some due diligence, and more will follow in the coming months to determine final feasibility of a coming together.
• DuraSpace is home to community supported software (CSS) programs DSpace (http://dspace.org/), Fedora (http://fedorarepository.org/) and VIVO (http://vivoweb.org/) and the hosted services ArchivesDirect (http://archivesdirect.org/), DSpaceDirect (http://dspacedirect.org/), DuraCloud (http://duracloud.org/) and DuraCloud Vault (http://duracloudvault.org/).
• LYRASIS is the organizational home for CSS services ArchivesSpace (http://archivesspace.org/) and CollectionSpace (http://www.collectionspace.org/), and offers digital hosted services for ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace and Islandora (http://islandora.ca/).
• Bringing the organizations together will mean 5 CSS programs and 7 hosted services under one roof, with no changes to the delivery of other services currently offered by each organization.
• No services currently offered by each respective organization will be interrupted.
• Robert Miller will be CEO of the proposed joined organization, and Debra Hanken Kurtz, currently CEO of DuraSpace, will become the COO of the new organization.

About LYRASIS

LYRASIS (http://www.lyrasis.org), a non-profit membership organization, partners with member libraries, archives and museums to create, access and manage information with an emphasis on digital content, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing operations and technology, and increasing buying power.

About DuraSpace

The DuraSpace (http://duraspace.org) organization is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit providing leadership and innovation for open technologies that promote durable, persistent access and discovery of digital data. More than 1800 institutions use and help develop DSpace, Fedora and VIVO open source software in partnership with DuraSpace.