January 27, 2016

Read it online: http://bit.ly/1QAuvbo
Contact: Carol Minton Morris [log in to unmask] 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; Meg Blum [log in to unmask] 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

*LYRASIS and DuraSpace Boards Approve “Intent to Merge” and Seek Your Input*

/January 27, 2016, Atlanta, GA/ - The Boards of LYRASIS and DuraSpace, 
two leading member-based non-profit organizations serving archives, 
libraries, museums, as well as the broader scholarly, cultural heritage 
and technology communities, have unanimously approved an “Intent to 
Merge”. LYRASIS, which serves more than 4000 members and information 
professionals by delivering eResources, strategic licensing, training 
and digital technology resources and DuraSpace, a leader in the 
development and deployment of open source technologies and services that 
promote durable access and discovery of digital data, will begin next 
steps to determine the feasibility of a combined organization. These 
next steps will include a deeper assessment of the individual 
organizations and how they might partner effectively, seeking community 
feedback on the proposal and a more public phase of due diligence 
investigation.

The respective boards unanimously approved an “Intent to Merge”, which 
means the organizations, having done a careful initial investigation, 
will move into a public phase to consider an official plan and pathway 
for the potential coming together, including a full analysis of member 
benefits. The decision to eventually come together is not yet final. In 
this more public phase of investigation, each organization seeks 
feedback from members of their organizations and will investigate 
carefully the value of all services, projects, membership models and 
organizational cultures to ensure a smooth transition for members of 
both organizations. The missions of both organizations are deeply rooted 
in the needs of the research, archives, library, and museum communities 
and a shared mission must serve the combined organization membership 
equally well.

The proposed new organization will continue to serve the LYRASIS and 
DuraSpace communities by sustaining and growing their combined open 
source platforms (Fedora, DSpace, VIVO, ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace) 
and hosted services (ASpace, CSpace, Islandora, DuraCloud, DSpaceDirect, 
ArchivesDirect). When finalized, the combined organization will expand 
its portfolio by offering new technologies and services that further 
their existing work in the management and preservation of digital 
scholarship. The new organization will focus on supporting current 
communities with no reduction in the delivery of services offered by 
LYRASIS and DuraSpace, while engaging a larger and more diverse group of 
stakeholders. LYRASIS will continue to support and advance all 
established commitments, programs and services as well as the commitment 
to strategic licensing of eResources, products and services which will 
continue without interruption.

The planned, new organization would be led by an executive team 
consisting of Robert Miller (Chief Executive Officer) and Debra Hanken 
Kurtz (Chief Operating Officer) and operate out of existing offices in 
San Francisco, California, Atlanta, Georgia and Austin, Texas.

The organizations are now seeking the input of members and the wider 
research, archives, library and museum communities. More detailed 
information is expected to be released in the coming weeks and months. 
Members of either organization are welcome to send comments, 
suggestions, questions to [log in to unmask] 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

“Combining the teams and technologies of LYRASIS and DuraSpace will 
allow us to deliver better and more cost effective end-to-end digital 
solutions and services to the communities we serve,” explained Robert 
Miller, CEO of LYRASIS.

Debra Hanken Kurtz, CEO of DuraSpace, said, “By joining with LYRASIS, 
DuraSpace will be able to bring our services to a wider membership 
audience. We will also expand and support our services, and continue our 
commitment to steward the development of community-supported software. 
Our members and the archives, libraries and museums communities will all 
benefit.”

“The new organization has the potential to transform the larger 
landscape of libraries, archives and museums by providing multiple 
pathways for them to connect, collaborate and participate at a local, 
national and international level. If this merger is finalized, LYRASIS 
will be able to offer value to members that goes far beyond fairly 
priced e-resources. The merger will create a robust offering of 
technical solutions, enriched training and the creation of a unified 
platform that can meet its members’ diverse needs. says Kathlin Ray, 
Dean of Libraries and Teaching & Learning Technologies at the University 
of Nevada, Reno and Chair of the LYRASIS Board of Trustees.

Paul Courant, former Provost and former Dean of Libraries at the 
University of Michigan, who is Chair of the DuraSpace Board, added that 
the combined organization "have the opportunity to provide a full suite 
of services that will serve as a foundational platform for digital 
scholarship to manage research and cultural heritage materials for a 
broad range of institutions. We have the opportunity to become the home 
for community source software, providing cost effective solutions for 
research institutions, libraries, museums, archives, and cultural 
heritage organizations to ensure that their collections are preserved 
and accessible for future generations."


Key points regarding the LYRASIS and DuraSpace “Intent to Merge”

• The DuraSpace and LYRASIS boards have voted and approved an intent to 
merge.
• Coming together will unite each organization’s open-source technology 
programs under one roof, along with Licensing and Partnerships, training 
and membership services.
• The organizations have not yet come together, and are moving into a 
more public phase of investigation at this time.
• The DuraSpace and LYRASIS boards have conducted some due diligence, 
and more will follow in the coming months to determine final feasibility 
of a coming together.
• DuraSpace is home to community supported software (CSS) programs 
DSpace <http://dspace.org/>, Fedora <http://fedorarepository.org/> and 
VIVO <http://vivoweb.org/> and the hosted services ArchivesDirect 
<http://archivesdirect.org/>, DSpaceDirect <http://dspacedirect.org/>, 
DuraCloud <http://duracloud.org/> and DuraCloud Vault 
<http://duracloudvault.org>.
• LYRASIS is the organizational home for CSS services ArchivesSpace 
<http://archivesspace.org/> and CollectionSpace 
<http://www.collectionspace.org/>, and offers digital hosted services 
for ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace and Islandora <http://islandora.ca/>.
• Bringing the organizations together will mean 5 CSS programs and 7 
hosted services under one roof, with no changes to the delivery of other 
services currently offered by each organization.
• Next steps will be determined by the respective boards and we will 
share any new information as it arises.
• No services currently offered by each respective organization will be 
interrupted.
• Robert Miller will be CEO of the proposed joined organization, and 
Debra Hanken Kurtz, currently CEO of DuraSpace, will become the COO of 
the new organization.

*Key Benefits of a Combined LYRASIS and DuraSpace Organization*

• Operating as a single entity, LYRASIS and DuraSpace can pool their 
resources and provide expertise to a broad array of problems the 
community is tackling.
• Together they have strong technical expertise to solve the problems, 
robust processes and systems in place to deliver customer and community 
solutions–a full suite of services that could serve as the foundational 
platform for digital scholarship for a broad range of institutions 
managing scientific and cultural heritage materials.
• LYRASIS and DuraSpace represent strong adjacencies for each other’s 
core missions, communities of service and suite of products/services.
• Coming together will represent an opportunity to deliver end-to-end 
services for core members.
• A combined LYRASIS and DuraSpace organization will pursue a broad 
mission, including the continued development of open technologies and 
services.
• The organization will also reach out to new communities who manage, 
preserve, and provide access to digital content.
• The new unified organization will provide significant economies of 
scale, synergies in developing open technologies and services, and a 
strong position for long-term sustainability.

*About LYRASIS*

LYRASIS (http://www.lyrasis.org <http://www.lyrasis.org/>), a non-profit 
membership organization, partners with member libraries, archives and 
museums to create, access and manage information with an emphasis on 
digital content, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing 
operations and technology, and increasing buying power.

*About DuraSpace*

The DuraSpace (http://duraspace.org <http://duraspace.org/>) 
organization is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit providing 
leadership and innovation for open technologies that promote durable, 
persistent access and discovery of digital data. More than 1800 
institutions use and help develop DSpace, Fedora and VIVO open source 
software in partnership with DuraSpace.

Our values are expressed in our organizational byline, "Committed to our 
digital future."

*To Submit Feedback:*

We need your input! For more information or to share your thoughts on 
the proposed merger, please contact [log in to unmask] 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>