Attending: Leila Gonzales, Chris Hallberg, Demian Katz, Mohan Pradhan, Hajo Seng

Apologies: Oliver Goldschmidt, André Lahmann, Ere Maijala, Craig Murdoch, Leander Seige

• Demian: Make further updates to Membership page. DONE
• Mohan: Share draft MOU, training coordinator CVs and training syllabi with PMC. DONE
• Mohan/Ere: Collaborate to review outstanding Koha OAI-PMH/plugin chapters. IN PROGRESS
• André/Demian/Mohan: Continue discussion of documentation management, etc. IN PROGRESS
• Demian: Investigate whether Sphinx can output Word documents. DONE (answer: Sphinx can generate HTML, which can be fairly easily converted to Word)
• All: Submit a brief biography for the PMC list, if you have not already. IN PROGRESS
• All: Offer feedback on sustainability issues/documentation strategy, if you have not already. IN PROGRESS
• Demian: Determine next steps for OLF membership, now that roles have been assigned. IN PROGRESS

Demian nominated several new candidates for committer access. He also proposed a standard invitation letter for candidates that are accepted. There was some discussion about voting process, since this is our first time through this process. For now, we decided that a simple majority was sufficient to approve the proposals, and there were no objections to any of the candidates. In future, nominations should continue to be shared by email with the PMC group for discussion/approval, and meetings can be used for real-time discussion as needed. Demian will send invitations to the current group of new nominees.

Demian updated the Membership Levels and Benefits page for discussion.

There were no objections to approving the current version of the page. It may be necessary to add more details on partner organizations and training in the future, as things become more firm.

Mohan reiterated HealthNet's willingness to provide free training to paid VuFind members. Hosting services may become an option in the future, but will not be announced until more details have been determined.

HealthNet is also planning to build a VuFind instance containing DOAJ articles and other open access journal content, which can be used to provide SDI services for members (and, eventually, the larger community).

Following last month's meeting, there was significant discussion regarding the role of the PMC in the next round of basic VuFind/open source training. For now, Mohan is running this independently through HealthNet Nepal to keep things simple; this will give the PMC more time to determine exactly how this type of relationship should be managed in the future.

Mohan emphasized the importance of having revenue sources for the project beyond simply membership donations, as donations can dry up, especially during financially challenging times. He also noted the importance of having a clear policy for fund-sharing in collaborative situations.

Demian suggested that it may be a good starting point to draft a training partnership policy that addresses the concerns raised after the previous meeting while creating a framework for future VuFind/HealthNet partnerships (as well as potential partnerships with other organizations in other parts of the world).

Another important sustainability-related development is that VuFind volunteered to beta test the “It Takes a Village” module for open source sustainability, and that test begins next month (September, 2021). We will be provided with sustainability-related checklists and exercises which we can work through to improve project sustainability, and we can provide feedback on these to help support better sustainability for other open source communities in the future. This may help advance our conversation further.

Mohan also suggested that PMC CVs could be shared through the website to help highlight skills of members, which could be helpful for planning purposes. Demian will link up his CV as a proof of concept for discussion.

Demian has been focused on the VuFind 8 release planning and has not had an opportunity to spend more time on documentation formatting (beyond researching the outstanding question about Word formatting, as noted above).

Mohan pointed out that book publishing is another area where partnership agreements may be valuable, as HealthNet is currently working on publishing training-related books through Lulu to raise funds.

Demian has been working with Lila Nyaichyai from Tribhuvan University to plan the Summit. A call for papers has been sent out, and the Zoom Webinar session is already prepared. Please share the CFP with interested parties and spread the word about the Summit. We can discuss scheduling further once some proposals have been received. It would be helpful if PMC members could consider possible topics for presentation at the Summit to ensure we have a full program regardless of outside submissions, but PMC-originated topics can be decided later, so as to fill any obvious gaps left by outside submissions.

Demian has been working to complete outstanding work slated for VuFind 8.0; a significant amount of work has been completed since last call, and even more is currently in progress. Due to summer vacations, it has been hard to get everything reviewed, but things are nonetheless moving forward reasonably well. It is still necessary to decide upon a release date. Discussion: the end of August might be feasible but would be rushed; if we want to give ourselves more time, should we aim for September, or closer to the Summit?

Following discussion, September 20th was decided upon as the 8.0 release date.

Demian met with the OLF and Villanova leadership to discuss final costs and logistics for VuFind/OLF membership. The process is ongoing (legal review, etc.). Next steps will include a meeting between OLF and the officers (Manager/Secretary/Treasurer) to ensure we are all on the same page about roles and responsibilities.

• Mohan/Ere: Collaborate to review outstanding Koha OAI-PMH/plugin chapters.
• Demian: Link up CV from PMC list as proof of concept.
• André/Demian/Mohan: Continue discussion of documentation management, etc.
• All: Submit a brief biography for the PMC list, if you have not already.
• All: Participate in “It Takes a Village” sustainability exercises.
• Demian: Continue moving OLF membership process forward.