As a community, let's establish the Code4Lib Open Source Software Award.
Lot's of good work gets produced by the Code4Lib community, and I believe it
is time to acknowledge these efforts in some tangible manner. Our profession
is full of awards for leadership, particular aspects of librarianship,
scholarship, etc. Why not an award for the creation of software? After all,
the use of computers and computer software is an essential part of our
day-to-day work. Let's grant an award for something we value -- good,
quality, open source software.
While I think the idea of an award is a laudable one, I have more questions
than answers about the process of implementing it. Is such a thing
sustainable, and if so, then how? Who is eligible for the award? Only
individuals? Teams? Corporate entities? How are awardees selected?
Nomination? Vote? A combination of the two? What qualities should the
software exemplify? Something that solves a problem for many people?
Something with a high "cool factor"? Great documentation? Easy to install?
Well-supported with a large user base? Developed within the past year?
As a straw man for discussion, I suggest something like the following:
* Regarding selection, I suggest there be a
committee who solicits nominations and
selects the awardee(s). As the years go by
an individual from the committee drops off
and the/an awardee becomes a member.
* Regarding who is eligible, I suggest it be
individuals, teams, or corporate entities.
Awardees must be willing to serve on the
next year's nominating committee.
* Regarding what is eligible, I suggest the
software be open source, directly
library-related, and developed within the
past two years.
* Regarding the timing, I suggest this be an
annual award given at each Code4Lib
conference.
These are just suggestions to get us started. What do you think? Consider
sharing your thoughts as comments below, in channel, or on the Code4Lib
mailing list.
--
Eric Lease Morgan
University of Notre Dame
