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A page to capture questions we are asked about Samvera and/or re= positories in general.
Charlotte's notes/responses
Karen's responses
Richard's suggestions
Chris's suggestions (and notes= /suggestions)
Ryan's pedantic responses=
Alicia's rewrite
Steph's reponses, including trying to find a colour you guys hadn= 't already used that could be read easily
INTEGRATE THESE EXISTING FAQs:&n= bsp;<= span class=3D"legacy-color-text-teal1">http://samvera.org/samvera-community= -sourced-software/faq/
General
Sa=
mvera is an open source digital repository framework that is community driv=
en. The software technology stack utilizes four major components: Fedora re=
pository software, Solr indexes, Blacklight and Samvera gems. A Samvera rep=
ository provides functionality for a flexible and extensible digital reposi=
tory solution. From the beginning, Samvera has been envisioned as a c=
ollaborative effort sustained by a vibrant community of developers, reposit=
ory managers, metadata experts and users working together to develop a repo=
sitory solution. The name Samvera is an Icelandic term meaning "togeth=
erness."
<= strong>Note: There are a lot of definitions to What is Samve= ra? out there. Look at Samvera.org; Samvera in wikipedia and Richard'= s trifold idea. We should settle on one.
<= span class=3D"legacy-color-text-orange3">Note/suggestion: Possibly reverse the sentences on communit= y and technology to put the community first. Highlight combination of = widely used and community-specific components (making Samvera more than the= sum of its parts). Thorny query - how much do we emphasise Fedora in= this, given the development of Valkyrie. We have to mention it, but = we also now need to highlight the flexibility - maybe mention the intention= of technology sustainability through the ability to switch out components?=
The name Samvera is an Icelandic= term meaning "togetherness." From the beginning, Samvera has be= en envisioned as a collaborative effort sustained by a vibrant community of= developers, repository managers, metadata experts and users working togeth= er to develop a repository solution. Samvera is an open source d= igital repository framework that is community driven, utilizing best of bre= ed technologies to provides a flexible and extensible digital repository so= lution.
= Samvera is being used to support a v= ariety of needs at educational and cultural institutions including developi= ng digital repositories for access copies of faculty publications and conte= nt of Archives and Special Collections; as a platform for scholarly communi= cation through projects like DPLA, Fulcrum and Ubiquity Press; for the mana= gement and access of media collections; and for managing and preserving res= earch data.
= Note - include geo-referenced data? I know&nbs= p;there has been activity on this, but I'm not aware of a= n active service using it currently.
Note -maybe give a link to the examples on the website too so people=
can go and see for themselves how Samvera is being used and what it looks =
like?
Th=
ere is a cost in terms of investing in developers, digital repository and m=
etadata librarian, and contributing to the Samvera Community. It is also im=
portant to consider that join=
ing the open-source community is an investment in the future of collecting,=
managing, preserving and providing long-term access to your digital conten=
t. Community members do work with vendor partners/ contributors who can help in getting an i=
nstitution up an running, or developing new functionality.
N= OTE: This is from the Samver FAQ page:
H= ow much does Samvera cost?
The Samvera software does not cost anything. It is = free and open source, available under an Apache 2 license. Of course, this = is free in the same way that stray puppies come free: you will have your ow= n ongoing support and maintenance costs.
Could we maybe=
list the cost areas? E.g. -
In-house = ; - developers, infrastructure, repository management staff (but you'd have= this with any repository), community contrinutions (staff time, travel cos= ts etc)
Outsource - co=
st of development work, hosting, support, could also include community cont=
ributions, but this might be optional, depending on the organisation (i.e s=
ome customers of outsourcing are involved in the community, others prefer t=
hat the team/organisation they engage for the job also looks after the comm=
unity side of things
Need help rewriting this one
(-How do we want to break down =
this question? I have a handy "roadmap" from our consultation with DC=
E that details how to build a Samvera-based repository according to phases =
in a certain order. Do we want to get this granular? Or do we w=
ant to offer a general answer about how much designated staff time in what =
timeframe is necessary to get up, running, maintaining, and growing? I would say give a low range =
and high range and qualify. Say for a quick implementation with no cu=
stomization it could take a knowledgeable Rails developer X amoun=
t of time. But depending on how complex a system you need and how=
much customization, it could also take months/years.I agree, but again emphasizing the investme=
nt being made. Might also be wort=
h adding something about where to get further information on this topic - e=
.g. attend a Samvera event with a link to the relevant page on the website?=
Content management
I would remove this question. I think the community u= nderstands the value of organized information and the need for metadata for= preservation and access. To answer this question requires going into= why libraries organize inforomation and the need for managing, preserving = and providing longterm access to the scholarly record. = strong>
&nb=
sp; Note - I take your point, but wonder if we need to assume that those =
accessing this information might not be in 'our' community, hence there is =
value in the approach of stating the obvious. To that end<=
/span>, see suggestion below. Agr=
ee with this, but woder if this would be better as an FAQ rather than in th=
e leaflet?
-Something about structured, fa= cetable metadata-accessibility, discoverability, navigability? Is thi= s a question about the very use/value/function of searchable repositories?<= /span>
-Content that is designed to b= e available and accessible works better in a repository. Lack of preservati= on capable functionality?
-management and curation by li= brary professionals with an eye toward permanance, assurances of best pract= ices and pathways towards preservation
Probably also a quest= ion of volume. With large collections of items, to e= ffectively find anything it needs to be managed better than throwing in a b= ucket.
I need help crafting an answer to this question - it's not =
either or.
-Samvera operates on the most u= pdated versions of Fedora, Apache, etc.; other solutions operate on outdate= d dependencies. (I don't actually know if this is technically true-it= 's just something I've heard! Do others know?) Samvera gives you an open solution and a = ;community to work with to improve the code.
-Manageable flexibility in looking after different types of digit= al material
Samvera provides the ability to curate and provide exhibits from a = single database (to simplify Fedora), provide content specific finding tool= s (GeoBlacklight, etc...). And would really double down on the shared= community development aspect - everyone says it, but we actually do it&nbs= p;
Flexibility to start small and plan to grow, in stages that you c=
an manage in line with your needs and your budget
Hy= rax is a relatively new Samvera component that combines the best parts of t= wo previous Ruby gems, Sufia and Curation Concerns. It provides most = of the =E2=80=9Cback-end=E2=80=9D functionality that is needed to build a S= amvera application. Hyrax utilizes the Samvera framework to provide us= ers with a base-level institutional repository (IR) solution t<= span class=3D"legacy-color-text-red2">hat can be customized, allowing for e= asier upgrades and better sustainability as the users are not working with = an entirely home-grown DAMS or IR.
Hy= ku is the product release from the Hydra-in-a-Box (HyBox) project and it is= built using Hyrax as its basis. Hyku is an easily installed =E2=80=9Csolut= ion bundle=E2=80=9D which provides a basic repository system. Hyku ca= n be installed locally or provided as a cloud service; it can be configured= for single or multi-tenant use. Here's an example: A vendor could use HyKu to run a single instan= ce which would be home to multiple customers utilizing the same Fedora, Val= kyrie and core components but display entirely locally with local control f= or customers.
= Sufia is a predecessor of Hyrax - an= d while it continues to exist at some institutions, Hyrax is a combination = of Sufia, Curation Concerns and original development work from the Sam= vera community.
I can't compile an answer for this one
=
-Community operation and parti= cipation / ability to modify the code / ability to integrate other tools
-I think we double down on Commu= nity ownership and management here. From a technology perspective, it= 's a matter of taste in many ways - but we do run on Ruby, and it's maybe e= asier to recruit Ruby devs than, say, Java devs if DSpace is any indication= (Java devs can make $$$$ in the real world)
We= know that nothing lasts for ever and that some of our community will proba= bly wish to move on to other, non-Samvera solutions in time. Samvera = is developing bulk import and export capability - the second of which will = allow the contents of a Samvera repository to be exported in a way that mig= ht be consumed by other platforms.
Just to note that as a service prov=
ider, we are being asked this a lot, and people are very happy with the ans=
wer above, and the idea that OS means you can move on. They see is as a tru=
st and sustainability positive thing
<=
strong>
Community
The value of participation in = a community in terms of adding to the local resource through shared knowled= ge and practice. The value of face-to-face communication to support t= his. The equivalence with attending system user groups for commercial= systems (in terms of costs equivalence). The value of growing the co= mmunity. See the letter that Mark Bussey pointed us at re: Agile2008 = - see https://www.agilealliance.org/convince = ;
Rather than going it alone, we consider this shared work to great= ly benefit us as for every bit we give, there are 30-odd other universities= similarly giving of their time and enhancing Samvera. While we could= create a stand-alone system, we'd be doing it ourselves, and the expense o= f maintaining something custom, over the longrun, would outstrip the occasi= onal costs of Samvera participation. The 90's taught us all a lot of = bad habits for localized software development rather than working with othe= rs to ensure multiple hands were in play to keep a system going and improvi= ng.
Being part of the commnity means my organisation gets my own ef=
forts, multipled by the efforts, experience and expertise of many, many oth=
er people who are incredibly knowledgable in their fields. Face-to-face com=
munity events are staff development, training, sharing of our own experienc=
s and professional networking all rolled into one. An organisation is able =
to invest in staff and know they are being supported in learning skills and=
gathering expereicnes directly relevemt to their work when they participat=
e in the community. We really do go further together.
If= we give we also gain from what others are giving. Giving takes on ma= ny forms and types - code, metadata development, time. Giving is a form of = investment that acknowledge the return we expect from others in the c= ommunity.
Contributions to the community are =
not one way. We don't just put time and resources in, we also take out the =
combined work of all of us that has gone into the systems we use in our own=
organisations. It is a balance and an investment over time in people, tech=
nology and sustainability.
-Discuss the investments (time,=
money, and staff-time) that leading partner institutions have made? =
Is this also where we get into the value of open sources repo technology fo=
r the future of accessible, open-access scholarly communications? Yes Also compare all that is said here with the commercial model - could be=
gone overnight?
Ra= ther than going it alone, we consider this shared work to greatly benefit u= s as for every bit we give, there are 30-odd other universities similarly g= iving of their time and enhancing Samvera. While we could create a st= and-alone system, we'd be doing it ourselves, and the expense of maintainin= g something custom, over the longrun, would outstrip the occasional costs o= f Samvera participation. The 90's taught us all a lot of bad habits f= or localized software development rather than working with others to ensure= multiple hands were in play to keep a system going and improving.= p>
(I=
copied Ryan's response from under Where are you off to this time?)
-I suppose we should get clarit=
y from the Governance Model WG before drafting a response to this. This will more likely come from the C=
ontribution Model WG: at present it goes Partner/Member of the Community (a=
dopter, kicking the tires etc)/Supporter (likely an adopter who contributes=
cash but does little else for the Community)
Samvera has multiple open Intere= st and Working Groups contributing at different levels of the technology st= ack. Work is managed in concert with other users to ensure a "one siz= e fits all" approach. Likewise, the Samvera Community has working gro= ups that manage the community itself.
-Active, participatory membersh= ip in a WG? The Contribution = Model WG is developing a recommendation that will be explicit about what th= e Community expects of Partners (and, conversely, what Partners get in retu= rn). For Community members who are not (yet?) Partners we expect them= to justify the term "Community member" by contributing back something.
-I appreciated this link Chris =
shared way back at the founding of the Marketing WG: https=
://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/marketing-open-source-project/.&=
nbsp; Perhaps we could paraphrase a few points from this piece, especially =
with regard to the value of the community as the identity of the software. =
Agree
Communication
Th=
ere are a several ways to stay connected. For newcomers to the c=
ommunity there is the Samvera Community Google Group and Slack #general.&nb=
sp; For Partners there is the Samvera Partners Google Group and Slack # par=
tners. For Developers there is Slack #dev. For attendees at Sam=
vera Connect, Slack #connect. I w=
onder if it is worth making sure we are very clear that the community and t=
he communication channels are not just for developers as this seems to be a=
misconception from people outside the community
Technical
Al=
l the software is available through the community's github site at https://github.com/samvera. Documentation is available at http://samvera.github.io/. A test instance of Hyr=
ax is made available by Data Curation Experts (DCE) at https://nurax.curationexperts.com/
Hyku was created specifically = to work in the cloud as a multi-tenanted solution for delivering repository= solutions. There is a Hyku Interest Group that is taking forward the= development of Hyku for use in this context.
Several Samvera repositories are deployed or partially deployed v= ia AWS. AMI's, docker storage and other cloud-friendly technologies a= re being used to support Samvera deployment and Samvera solution bundles (e= xample: Avalon is fully deployable in AWS and uses AWS transcoding to= create multiple bitrate versions of uploaded media content)<= /p>
Do we have a list of examples we could point to online? As this=
is a growing area with a lot of interest, something online could capture n=
ew stuff and people could see the latest information
Th=
e Hyrax gem, which is the basis of most Samvera systems at the moment, has =
undergone an external accessibility audit. A few minor issues were fo=
und which are currently being addressed.
The code is being actively dev= eloped on an ongoing basis, but is also being released in managed ways.&nbs= p; Hyrax has a roadmap that highlights ongoing development and likely relea= se schedule; individual gems have component owners who announce new release= s periodically.
Th= ere is a list of sites using Samvera at https://samvera.org/samvera-partners/&n= bsp;? (this needs updating with more links)
Legal