Releasing open source at the Library of Congress

摘要

Purpose - The Library of Congress supports the use of open source software in its initiatives, fromrnsoftware development tools to technologies used in its web sites. From late 2008 through spring 2009,rnthe Library of Congress for the first time released its own open source software. This article aims tornprovide an overview of the issues involved in developing, releasing, building a community around, andrnsupporting open source software, based on the experiences of this project.rnDesign/methodology/approach - Three utilities and a Java Library - the Parallel Retriever, thernBag Validator, Verifylt, and the Baglt Library - were released on SourceForge, the technologyrncommunity's hub for open source software distribution and services, under the "Library of CongressrnTransfer Tools" project.rnFindings - The tools support validation and transfer of data that conforms to the Baglt specification.rnThe Library plans to release additional tools as part of a suite of solutions and software developmentrnresources as they are completed over time.rnOriginality/value - The article gives an overview of open source software use and development atrnthe Library of Congress.