Atlanta, GA – March 13, 2019 – LYRASIS and DuraSpace are pleased to announce that by July 1, 2019, they will officially merge to create one dynamic organization empowered to help drive scalable change, new technologies and vital services.
This merger will create a new model for collaboration, innovation and development in the landscape of academic, research, and public libraries, galleries, archives, and museums. The merged organization will leverage its expertise, reach, and capacity to create and build new programs, services and technologies that enable durable, persistent access to data and services. The LYRASIS and DuraSpace communities will continue to benefit from the existing programs and services that they receive from each organization.
The newly merged organization will be an on-ramp to a worldwide collaborative community of more than 4,000 institutions and nine open source, community-supported technology programs across six continents. In addition, it will build capacity in the scholarly ecosystem through open technologies, services, funding opportunities, expertise, training, and support.
Both organizations bring world class experts and a common vision for the future of knowledge as it is used across their overlapping memberships. They share a common drive to provide end-to-end solutions that reflect the governance, fair pricing, technical road map, and community expectations of their memberships.
Erin Tripp, DuraSpace’s Executive Director explains, “We found that our two organizations were working more and more toward similar goals such as stewarding community-supported and open source initiatives in the scholarly ecosystem. We each observed a growing need for innovation, research and development, and thought leadership. I feel strongly that by working together, we can have a greater impact on our communities.”
Robert Miller, CEO of LYRASIS, says of the merger, “Over the past three years we have tested and launched a thought leadership and program development initiative that combines collective risk mitigation and community engagement with milestone-based funding. The rapid adoption of this by 10% of our membership has confirmed to us that this technology platform and service focus is more critical now than ever before. Leveraging DuraSpace’s global institution base with our strategic end-to-end solution focus will be a substantial win for our members.”
LYRASIS and DuraSpace have traditionally delivered high-quality content and cultural heritage solutions to their diverse memberships and will continue to do so. All services, programs, purchases and subscriptions through LYRASIS and DuraSpace will continue without interruption. No action needs to be taken at this time by any members to ensure continuity of service.
This merger strengthens each organization’s core competencies and offers new opportunities for expansion. LYRASIS will be the public name of the merged organization and led by Robert Miller. Within LYRASIS, a newly-created DuraSpace Community Supported Programs division led by Erin Tripp will be the future home of all existing DuraSpace Open Source Software projects and all LYRASIS community supported programs including ArchivesSpace and CollectionSpace, as well as DSpace, Fedora, and VIVO.
About LYRASIS
LYRASIS, a not-for-profit membership organization of more than 1000 libraries, museums, and archives supports enduring access to our shared academic, scientific and cultural heritage through leadership in open technologies, content services, digital solutions and collaboration with archives, libraries, museums and knowledge communities worldwide.
About DuraSpace
DuraSpace is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded in 2009 providing leadership and innovation for open technologies that promote durable, persistent access to digital data. We collaborate with academic, scientific, cultural, technology, and research communities by supporting projects and advancing services to help ensure that current and future generations have access to our collective digital heritage.