Collections are increasingly diverse. They can include the expected library resources like physical, and electronic, books and articles. Equally, collections can also contain items and records such as bikes, films, toys, audio interviews, datasets, digital heritage, and much more.
Our commitment to community
Sharing benefits widely
One of the reasons we expanded our services to include other open source software like DSpace, VuFind, and Islandora is to best support the needs of the community. A benefit of open source is that anyone can improve it, and help it evolve. We’ve chosen these technologies, as enhancements that can be shared, benefiting the wider community. We enjoy hearing the needs of communities and contributing as many enhancements as possible back to the community software project for others to benefit. Plus, it reduces ongoing maintenance for the organisation that funded the change. It’s been wonderful to have the opportunity to put forward contributions to the DSpace, VuFind, and Koha projects.
Working collaboratively
We aim to understand the needs of our clients and communities for the future and enjoy working collaboratively to develop long-term connections. An example is our growing working relationship with Te Mātāpuna Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Library. It’s been a pleasure to support both operational and strategic projects. We started with implementation and support for their Koha library management system that we host on Catalyst Cloud and later took on support for VuFind and DSpace. Then, in 2023, we worked together to build the world’s first Rainbow research excellence portal which you can learn more about in our case study.
Considering the future of collections
We create solutions considering the long-term impact of collections and who they’re important to. To ensure collections remain accessible, and the technology that cares for them is modern and scalable, we aim to build for the future. An example of this, is identifying how technology can be used effectively to set organisations up for success like reducing customised code which can complicate upgrades. For instance, AUT’s Library Search is run on VuFind, where students can search across a range of information sources. So others could benefit from the changes, we upstreamed 18 enhancements to the global VuFind project. Among the changes, were te reo Māori translations for VuFind, which Craig Murdoch (Digital Development Manager) from AUT organised. Overall, the enhancements, delivered faster loading times, improved usability, and better user experience.
Sharing knowledge
Rōpū kohinga enjoys opportunities to learn, connect, and share knowledge. I really enjoy supporting others to make changes to their software, whether it’s creating reports, translations, or changes to the code base. We prioritise opportunities to learn and share about open source and the GLAMR sector. One way we do this is by attending events and user groups, creating tutorials, as well as running trainings and webinars. Out of user group discussions we decided to make our Koha webinars more accessible and have shared them on our YouTube channel. You can catch up on the latest releases of Koha, Koha 24.05 and Koha 24.11(external link). I also enjoyed co-presenting with Craig from AUT at WolfCon(external link) about what we learnt about DSpace and VuFind.
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What’s next?
Broader industries using software like Koha
Because of the flexibility of software like Koha, we’re seeing more organisations use it for their collections of all sorts of things like an inventory of equipment, legal documents, historical artefacts, found history, ephemera, and more. Another way organisations are using the flexibility of Koha is by using multiple public interfaces on their Koha instance. This could be to serve different collections to different audiences within one organisation. For example, a main library catalogue and a separate archive catalogue. Or a different interface to find internal publications. This approach borrows from the idea of library branches, enabling multiple organisations to share a single instance.
Protecting knowledge, artefacts, and systems
Our team's work is driven by knowing the importance of the systems that hold collections, the knowledge needed to continue to care for them, and how to protect them. We aim to support our clients with the skills they need to customise their collection technology without needing developers. If you’re interested in a workshop or are after additional content, let our team know, we’re happy to help.
We want to ensure your collection and data remain with you and in your control. We’ve seen the awareness of the importance of data sovereignty grow, with more organisations engaging in meaningful conversations about where and how their data is hosted. By hosting your data in New Zealand, it remains under New Zealand law. Globally, data sovereignty is being prioritised, even written into data protection laws, such as in the European Union and Australia. If you’d like to learn more about this from an Indigenous data sovereignty perspective, Aleisha Amohia, Rōpū kohinga technical lead and Chris Cormack, Kaihuawaere Matihiko at Catalyst have written more about it in our blog post.
Contact us
Our team would love to hear about your collection. Contact me and Rōpū kohinga for a chat about your goals and we may be able to connect you with other organisations with similar experiences.