October 26, 2020
Project ReShare is pleased to announce that Internet Archive, a non-profit library, and the Marmot Library Network, a Colorado-based consortium, have joined the project as members.
Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of books, Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. With a mission to “provide Universal Access to All Knowledge,” it provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, patrons with print disabilities, and the general public. Internet Archive began in 1996 archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use.
Internet Archive will contribute to Project ReShare expertise and knowledge specifically related to strengthening the community of practice around controlled digital lending (CDL). “As a library that has been running a version of controlled digital lending for more than nine years, it is thrilling to see a group like Project ReShare come together to accelerate and promote this work,” remarked Chris Freeland, Director of Open Libraries, Internet Archive. “We also will continue to support and promote the work of scholars who have codified CDL through independent publications and legal white papers.”
Internet Archive released a statement about its commitment to Project ReShare.
A large component of Marmot’s new operational plan is growing the consortium’s involvement in Project ReShare and FOLIO. Marmot aims to be a consortium built on the choice and ownership that comes from involvement in open source solutions.
“We believe that Marmot’s role as a multi-type library consortium, composed predominantly of public libraries, would provide the ReShare community with valuable insight in both consortial and public library needs,” stated Adam Murray, Executive Director of Marmot Library Network.
Organized by academic, public, and school librarians, Marmot’s original purpose was to create a network located on the Western Slope of Colorado with access to a shared cataloging system. Marmot was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1990. As a multi-type library consortium with 30 Voting Members and 9 Associate Members, Marmot has evolved in its 35 years of operation, adding services such as workstation and network management, hosting solutions, a digital archive, and a catalog discovery layer.
As a member of the ReShare community, Marmot has committed $10,000 in membership fees, plus dedicated time from the wide-ranging expertise of Marmot’s staff, including developers.
Project ReShare is pleased to be expanding its community with the inclusion of Internet Archive and Marmot Library Network, working together to transform approaches to resource sharing.
Background
The ReShare Community is a group of libraries, consortia, information organizations and developers, with both commercial and non-commercial interests, who came together in 2018 to create Project ReShare – a new and open approach to library resource sharing. The ReShare Community has a bold vision for building a user-centered, app-based, community-owned resource sharing platform for libraries to set a new standard for how we connect library patrons to the resources and information they require.
For more information, contact info@projectreshare.org.
To receive email updates from Project ReShare, please sign up for the Project ReShare news list at https://projectreshare.org/contact.
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Media Contact
Lisa Croucher
Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN): trln.org, Executive Director
Project ReShare: projectreshare.org, Communication Team, Chair
info@projectreshare.org