VUFind, NGC, Code4Lib Communities: 

A couple of weeks back, I sent an announcement to the VUFind discussion lists about a VUFind 2.0 meeting -- most of the text of that original message is below. 

I've heard from a bunch of you and there seems to be good interest and ability to attend this meeting. We have now settled on the dates of Sept. 15-16, 2010, so mark your calendars. We'll try to use the full day of the 15th and meet until at least mid-afternoon from on the 16th -- leaving some the option of traveling home on the 16th. Because we'll start early on the 15th, arrival by the evening of the 14th is recommended.

The meeting will be at Villanova and we will be arranging for accommodations & meals on or near campus, with a possible foray into Philadelphia for a group dinner on the 15th.  A number of our developers from outside the U.S. are planning to attend, with some subvention from our Mellon funds.  We are incredibly excited to have the chance to get VUFinders (and NGCers) from the around the world together in person. This meeting could be a great launching pad for the next phase of innovation in our evolving software.  And also a chance for the community to build some deeper interpersonal connections, or at least to put faces to names.

As planning moves forward, I will be working with Demian Katz & others to develop a more detailed agenda for the gathering.  If you have thoughts on how best to use our time, please share them with me.  I want to leave some openness to harvest whatever energy and inspiration surfaces while we're together but I also want a plan for more structured activities in case we need some direction. More details will be forthcoming soon as they take shape

   I will be (and may have already been) in touch with a number of you from beyond the U.S. who are planning to attend.  You'll be flying into Philadelphia and we'll get you from the airport to the hotel & the meeting site. For international travelers who are getting some support from us to attend, you'll be working with the university's travel agent to get the arrangements ironed out.  

   I am psyched that we are going to make this happen. It's our chance to add a little more adrenalin to an already vital development community.  Stay well everyone.


Original Message:

  We are planning to host a face-to-face VUFind 2.0 meet-up at Villanova University in late summer to discuss ideas, possibilities, priorities, and development paths for VUFind 2.0.  By that time, the official 1.0 release (no longer a mere "release candidate") will be in the field and we will be ready to talk seriously about what a 2.0 project might embrace.

   We have some Mellon Foundation funds to subsidize participation by key developers and VUFind constituents in this meet-up.  My hope is that this will be a rather loosely structured event occurring over 2 days that will funnel down from visionary "blue sky" and vision-seeting at the start, to clustering and prioritizing of ideas based on what's most practical & valuable, culminating if we're lucky, perhaps, in some quick prototyping and demonstration as the final activity.  But that is not set in stone. We can also incorporate informal talks about local implementations, things already in development in local settings, and challenges in continuing to advance VUFind. We'll do what might work best for the group that gathers.

    If you are interested in attending but would require travel budget assistance to do so, please get in touch with me directly via e-mail.  If you would like to attend and would be able to do so without a subsidy, it would be useful to know that as well.  In other words, please send me a quick e-mail if you're interested in coming to this event. We will probably also try to set up some channel for remote participation for at least part of the time for those who can't make it to the F2F meeting. 

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Joe Lucia
University Librarian
Villanova University
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