Dear LYRASIS Members,

As Chair of the Board of Trustees and LYRASIS CEO, we are pleased to announce that the LYRASIS and DuraSpace Boards have voted unanimously in favor of an “intent to merge” the two organizations. This begins a public phase of the due diligence process whereby we will be gathering member feedback, discussing governance and defining many of the nuts and bolts that need to be addressed before putting a potential merger to a member vote. If approved, the coming together with DuraSpace would allow LYRASIS to expand certain services while improving existing ones.

The “intent to merge” is a proposed combining of our organizations based on the strengths of each and the synergies between our missions and communities of service. Coming together would allow us to strengthen the Community Supported Software (CSS) offerings of both organizations and expand and leverage our current digital asset management solutions for members and the wider library, archives and museum communities. In addition to the digital technology benefits, our licensing and partnership team would be able to leverage the strengths of the DuraSpace community.

We want you to know that if a merger occurs there will be no changes to your services or purchases with LYRASIS, including e-resources. We will continue to offer you uninterrupted service, and maintain our commitment to e-resources, licensing and vendor partners, and training and consulting services. If after careful review the merger moves forward, it will represent an expansion of services for LYRASIS members without losing any of your existing membership benefits.

We need your input

Beginning today, as we enter the public phase of the due diligence process, we are seeking feedback from our members. Please note that this “intent to merge” phase is a process, and will not be finalized until we investigate fully and are able to incorporate the feedback of our members. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Robert at robert.miller@lyrasis.org or Kathlin Ray at kray@unr.edu.

You can also submit feedback and suggestions to both organizations at synergy@duraspace.org.

About DuraSpace

The DuraSpace (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. Their values are expressed in their organizational byline, “Committed to our digital future.”

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 would unite each organization’s open-source technology programs under one roof, along with Licensing and Partnerships, training and other 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 initial 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, Fedora and VIVO and hosted services ArchivesDirect, DSpaceDirect and DuraCloud.
  • LYRASIS is the organizational home for CSS services ArchivesSpace and CollectionSpace, and offers hosted services for ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace and Islandora.
  • Bringing the organizations together would mean five CSS programs and six 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 either organization will be interrupted by a potential merger.
  • Robert Miller would be CEO of the proposed joined organization, and Debra Hanken Kurtz, currently CEO of DuraSpace, would 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 problems, robust processes and systems in place to deliver customer and community solutions, and 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 would represent an opportunity to deliver end-to-end services for core members.
  • A combined LYRASIS and DuraSpace organization would pursue a broad mission, including the continued development of open technologies and services.
  • The organization would also reach out to new communities that manage, preserve, and provide access to digital content.
  • The new unified organization could provide significant economies of scale, synergies in developing open technologies and services, and a strong position for long-term sustainability.

We are thrilled to announce this step to our valued members, and we are excited to hear your thoughts. We both believe this is a wonderful opportunity to better serve you, our members, and the wider library, archives, and museum community. Again, please reach out to either of us with any questions or concerns, and we will update you as more information becomes available during this process.

Sincerely,
Robert Miller

Chief Executive Officer, LYRASIS
robert.miller@lyrasis.org

Kathlin Ray

Dean of Libraries and Teaching & Learning Technologies at the University of Nevada, Reno
and Chair of the LYRASIS Board of Trustees
kray@unr.edu