ByWater Solutions, America’s forefront provider of Open Source library technology support, announced that Christian Witness Theological Seminary in San Jose, CA is now live on Koha!

ByWater completed the transition of hosting the library's 35,000 plus bibs and is providing ongoing support services to the library. The library's customized Koha OPAC can be viewed at cwts.bywatersolutions.com

Jessica Zairo of ByWater Solutions recently commented on their migration, "The Christian Witness Seminary team was already using Koha so this was not new to them but we are so glad they chose ByWater for hosting and support. We're always happy to take the workload of Koha upgrades and server maintenance off of library staff so that they can dedicate even more time to their amazing communities!"

About Christian Witness Theological Seminary
In 1978, Christian Witness Theological Seminary (CWTS) was approved as a private post-secondary educational institution in the State of California. In 1984, CWTS was authorized by the California Superintendent of Public Instruction to confer bachelor and master degrees. Currently it is registered under the Bureau of Private Post Secondary Education in the State of California with permission to train professional Christian workers.

Read more at https://www.cwts.edu/mission/

About ByWater Solutions
ByWater Solutions is a full service, high-quality Open Source support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their systems than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in the first-rate implementation and support services with library systems of all sizes for the Koha ILS, Aspen Discovery, Folio LSP, Coral ERM, and Libki PC Management.

Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions not only lowers the cost of implementation and maintenance of OSS but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve. For more information please visit https://bywatersolutions.com.

About Koha
Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.

Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management, and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies, HTML5, CSS, and Javascript, making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit http://koha-community.org.

For More Information
Jessica Zairo
Director of Library Sales & Outreach
ByWater Solutions
bywatersolutions.com
Phone:(888)900-8944

FOLIO Project Members Have Elected Their First Community Council
~ The New Community Council Will Oversee Governance Changes for the FOLIO Project ~

PHILADELPHIA — March 23, 2021 — The results are in. The FOLIO project has held project-wide elections for the first time to initiate FOLIO’s new Community Council. The Community Council’s role is to foster a healthy and productive community ecosystem of sustainable collaboration for the FOLIO project. Among the responsibilities of the Community Council are to ensure a strong community by onboarding new members to the FOLIO project and making sure that the community is collaborative and inclusive.

The new council represents both new and previous member organizations/institutions and individuals. The following community members have been voted onto the inaugural FOLIO Community Council:

Kathleen Berry, University of Massachusetts/Five Colleges
Rachel Besara, Missouri State University
Tom Cramer, Stanford University
Mike Gorrell, Index Data
Dracine Hodges, Duke University
Ian Ibbotson, Knowledge Integration
Harry Kaplanian, EBSCO Information Services
Kirstin Kemner-Heek, GBV|VZG
Marko Knepper, University Library Mainz
Keven Liu, Shanghai Library
Boaz Nadav Manes, Lehigh University
Maike Osters, hbz
Leander Seige, Leipzig University
Paula Sullenger, Texas A&M University
Simeon Warner, Cornell University
Simeon Warner from Cornell University says the project is at an important point as an increasing number of sites go live and librarians around the world are introduced to the platform. “As we communicate the work of the FOLIO community in creating this new library service platform, we are also looking toward what’s next. Those who have implemented FOLIO have unique perspectives to share as we work to ensure the long-term sustainability of the project and the community, and to help new member institutions of all sizes join.”

Maike Osters is the FOLIO Project Lead at hbz Cologne and Head of hbz’s Library Management Department. She says this new governance model will help all members shape the project. “As we onboard new members, it is important to make sure we are open but that we also reach out to organizations that would be a good fit to innovate off the FOLIO platform. Our task in the future will be to establish a strong FOLIO Community to ensure a stable and ongoing development of FOLIO, so that we can offer libraries an alternative to the traditional ILS.”

The new governance model is designed to grow with the project as sites around the world implement the FOLIO platform, and as libraries and organizations innovate off the platform. The changing governance model will allow the open source project to be even more open.

The Community Council will coordinate closely with the Product Council and the Technical Council. One of the first tasks the Community Council will manage will be an election for new members of these other councils, expected in May.

About FOLIO
FOLIO is a collaborative effort among libraries, vendors, developers and consortia that leverages open source technology and a community-based effort to redefine library services and innovate based on library futures. By building on what libraries need and by leveraging library expertise as well as vendor capacity and velocity, FOLIO is designed to move libraries forward, build on the services they provide and redefine the role libraries play within their institution. FOLIO also levels the playing field and makes open source technology available to all institutions regardless of size or staffing. FOLIO brings vendors together to innovate and host services for customers and introduces open source as a service to libraries. To sign up to participate or receive more information, go to www.folio.org.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Media Relations, FOLIO
978-223-0438
kathleen@folio.org

Duluth, Ga., March 23, 2021: Equinox Open Library Initiative is pleased to announce the launch of equinoxEDU, a comprehensive education program focused on open source technologies for libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions.

“We are excited to be offering a new suite of educational services to meet the needs of open source library communities,” said Angela Kilsdonk, product and education manager at Equinox. “This past year has seen increased demand for online and asynchronous education programs and we look forward to engaging with our library community members and partners on these new platforms.”

The equinoxEDU program includes: the Spotlight webinar series, educational Workshops, and an accompanying Resource Library. The equinoxEDU: Spotlight webinars will be presented monthly and include Q&A with subject experts. The first equinoxEDU: Spotlight session in February provided an overview of new feature highlights in the Evergreen ILS 3.6 release. Recordings of equinoxEDU: Spotlight sessions will be available on-demand as part of the equinoxEDU: Resource Library.

Beginning in May, the equinoxEDU: Workshop series will be introduced as a premium offering providing an in-depth look at distinct features and functionality of open source library technologies and present best practices on implementing and using these technologies. The equinoxEDU: Workshop sessions will be instructor-led training events and will include skill-building activities and downloadable resources.

The equinoxEDU: Resource Library will serve as a central repository for equinoxEDU content, from on-demand video tutorials and pre-recorded equinoxEDU: Spotlight webinars, to self-paced learning materials and resource guides. Offerings in the equinoxEDU: Resource Library will be freely available online.

For updates, subscribe to the equinoxEDU mailing list (http://eepurl.com/htAKcD) and follow Equinox Open Library Initiative on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative Inc. is a 501(c)3 company engaging in literary, charitable, and educational endeavors serving libraries and knowledge institutions. As the successor to Equinox Software, Inc., Equinox Open Library Initiative builds upon a decade of exceptional service and technical expertise, providing consulting services, development, hosting, training, and support for Evergreen ILS, Koha ILS, and other open source library software. As a non-profit organization, Equinox is committed to providing innovative open source library solutions to libraries of all sizes and types. To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxinitiative.org/.

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