Dear Friends,

I'm thrilled to share news that DuraSpace and LYRASIS intend to merge their two non-profit organizations. The boards of each organization have unanimously affirmed their interest in pursuing a merger.  A Press Release and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) published this morning has more detailed information. These resources outline a what a merged organization could look like and how it could bring eight global, community-supported technology communities under one roof. 

Until we have an opportunity to engage of a more personal level, I want to take this opportunity to share why I'm excited about the intent to merge. I feel a combined organization will have increased capacity to:

• Amplify our voice to a larger member base, 
• Provide access to additional staff and investment dollars that will accelerate our work, 
• Provide new benefits to members that will strengthen our projects and programs, 
• Increase opportunities for product integration that will bolster community-supported products as viable end-to-end solutions and alternatives to proprietary products, and 
• Provide more flexible supports and services to community-supported technology communities, making it easier to support small or start-up initiatives.

President of the DuraSpace Board of Directors, and Dean of University Libraries at Virginia Tech, Tyler Walters expressed his excitement about the intent to merge, saying, “There is great potential for open technology projects and their invested research institutions to experience more value creation, lower costs of doing business, and an invigorated environment to lead and innovate through this merged organization.”

As always, thank you for your continued support of our work on this and other initiatives aimed at providing enduring access to the world’s digital heritage.

Warm regards,

Erin Tripp

Executive Director

A Members-Only Summit 

Our annual Member Summit will be held on April 10, 2019 in St. Louis.  A reception, following the CNI Spring Member Meeting, will be held on April 9th.  Invitations will be sent to representatives of each member organization the first week of February. 

Where We'll Be 

LDCX Fedora Workshop, Palo Alto, CA, March 25-27, David Wilcox

DuraSpace Summit at CNI, St. Louis, MO, April 10, Erin Tripp, David Wilcox, Andrew Woods, Valorie Hollister, Carol Minton Morris, Michele Mennielli

DSpace Anwendertreffen, Bamberg, Germany, April 11-12, Michele Mennielli

euroCRIS Membership Meeting, Espoo/Helsinki, May 27-29, Michele Mennielli