From its inception as Hydra, Samvera has been designed to provide a generalizable, portable framework that would meet the needs not only of the three original institutions, but also those of a wider community. Originating as a multi-institutional project spanning three universities (Hull, Stanford and Virginia), and with support from Fedora Commons, Samvera has since expanded to include like-minded institutions with similar needs, technical infrastructures and complementary systems.
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Community Structure and Responsibilities
Adopters
Samvera is committed to being free and open source software. Adopters are members of the Samvera Community who use the software. The Community would not be what it is without adopters. Adoption, and all kinds of contributions big and small, can build toward Partnership.
Partnership
At the heart of the Samvera Community are the Samvera Partners, those who both use the software and formally contribute to the Samvera effort overall.
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Contribute. In at least one of many ways, give: code, analysis, design, documentation, presentations, support, funding, participation in working/interest groups, or other resources.
Meet. Participate in the conversations that shape our future. Attend Samvera Partner Meetings, held twice a year.
Vote. As a Partner, it is a duty and privilege to vote in elections and on other matters of importance.
Lead. Help lead the way by participating in the governance of Samvera. Partners may provide input on the Community and technical direction up to the highest levels, and represent Samvera to the broader community.
Stay Informed. Additionally, be among the first to be notified of any known security issues and fixes, ahead of the information being made public.
How to become a Samvera Partner
The steps to become a Samvera Partner are:
Nomination. Be nominated by an existing Partner.
Invitation. Get invited to be a Partner by the Steering Group.
Application. Submit a brief letter of intent (which will be posted publicly) and the corporate Contributor License Agreement, and sign a Letter of Agreement (LoA) in support of the formal, legal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) [PDF].
Approval. Be voted in by the Steering Group, and
Announcement. Be welcomed formally to the Community as a Partner.
Partners sign a formal one page Letter of Agreement (LoA) in support of the formal and legal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Steering Group in April 2012. Additionally, each Partner is asked at the time of joining the group to write a brief letter of intent indicating why they want to become a Samvera Partner and what they intend to contribute to the Community. (Note that we post these letters publicly in the wiki.) Partners are also required to have on file a corporate Contributor License Agreement (see Samvera Community Intellectual Property Licensing and Ownership page) to ensure that the Community can accept code and other intellectual contributions from the Partner institution. A composite document comprising the 2012 MoU, amendments made to it in 2018 to reflect the name change from Hydra to Samvera, changes made in 2019 to reflect governance changes in the Community, a version of the MoU showing the effect of these amendments, and a blank Letter of Agreement can be found here.
How to stop being a Samvera Partner
The steps to relinquish partnership are:
Notify. Provide notice in writing to the Samvera Steering Group that you wish to withdraw from your partner agreement; or
Vote. A majority of Partners in good standing vote to remove a Partner.
Partnership Fees
There are no partnership fees. However, Samvera has operational costs and a budget managed by the Steering Group, and monetary contributions are vital to sustaining the mission. Samvera holds true to the belief that cost must not be a barrier to partnership, and thus monetary contributions are truly optional. Furthermore, monetary contributions alone do not qualify an entity for Partnership. A call for contributions is made annually.
Benefits to All Samvera Partners
In return for Partner contributions, the Community undertakes to provide a number of specific services in return. These include:
The right to vote in formal Samvera decision making (one vote per Partner institution)
The right to put up candidates for election to the Samvera Steering Group
The right to attend Partner meetings and Partner calls
The right to advance information about any security vulnerabilities discovered in Samvera software (via the Partners’ closed mailing list)
Centrally coordinated legal and financial services relating to
Rights management
Financial stewardship
Legal issues (including trademark)
Marketing (including website and wiki)
An annual Samvera Connect conference
An annual Samvera Virtual Connect
Access to the services of any Samvera appointed employees to help further local Samvera initiatives
Public acknowledgement of Partnership in/on appropriate publicity materials (including the website and wiki)
Roles and Responsibilities
All Samvera Partners
All Samvera Partners are empowered with the responsibility to promote the well-being and development of the Community. Collectively, the Partners share responsibilities including, but not limited to:
Electing representatives to the Steering Group
Community maintenance and growth
Collaborative roadmapping (technical & community)
Samvera application development
Governance of, maintenance of and code contribution to the core components
Design contribution: UI's, API's, data models, et al.
Documentation and sharing of contributions, eg. through http://samvera.github.io/
Community infrastructure provisioning & support (Bug trackers, Continuous Integration Servers, Web site, Wiki, etc.)
Maintenance of the official Samvera website
Resource coordination
Recruiting
Community advocacy (e.g., public speaking, writing articles)
Participation and leadership in "Interest Groups" and "Working Groups" within the Samvera Community
Meeting organization & planning
Determining Community strategy
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The current set of Bylaws governing the operation of the Steering Group can be found here.
Samvera Code Development
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Our code development is overseen and coordinated by a number of groups. The Roadmap Council exists to align the roadmaps of the various Samvera code initiatives where this makes sense. The council comprises the product owners of the core Samvera components and Solution Bundles and of representatives from relevant Interest or Working Groups. The essential elements of the Samvera code are maintained by the Core Components Maintenance Group which is devoted to the ongoing maintenance of identified core components via planned sprints organized in communication with the product owners. Hyrax, the repository toolkit that underpins other solution bundles has two key working groups: one for coordinating development, and another for its roadmap. Our solution bundles (Hyku and Avalon) each have their own development teams responsive to the needs of, and advised by, their users.
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