2022-10-20 Meeting Notes

Documentation update: EBSCO had been paying a consultant to organize the documentation group to catch up; her contract ended on October 6. Marcia is willing to come back and help if funding can be found. Aiming for funding for 6 months ($25,000 to $30,000); a call will be going out to institutions to help fund this.

App showing someone walking through library and mapped in real time. How is that done?
This was an app developed by the Shanghai Libraries that uses the FOLIO APIs.

The presentation mentioned that Chinese libraries are focused more on new and emerging technologies. We saw an example of tracking a physical object in the stacks. Are there other examples you could share?
This was part of the requirements for the new library. The "smart bookshelf" uses RFID tags for real-time inventory of books. The reader can see the real-time location of the books. The service robot was designed locally; it supports self-borrowing and returning, delivery of books to a specific seat, and offer guidance to users. The reservation system can be used for parking spaces, seats, and rooms in the library. Navigation within the libraries uses a hybrid mix of geomagnetic, Bluetooth, and AOA technologies.

How are these new apps to be contributed? Are these translatable into other languages? Documentation?
Some new apps are specific to the needs of Chinese libraries; if the international community thinks the apps are useful, they can ask the vendor about offering translations. The apps also include technologies (such as REDIS) that are not part of the FOLIO system now.

Can a library contribute to both versions of FOLIO (CALSP vs Community)
The slide presentation has a list of modified, new, and unchanged apps. These modules can all be contributed back, but they are designed for specific Chinese needs.

The presentation mentioned needing to expand modules. What modules does the FOLIO China system use without changes, what has been expanded, and which ones have been replaced?
The slide mentioned in the previous question has a list of what is unchanged and what has been modified. In some cases, new fields were added and in other cases (especially acquisitions) there are new/different workflow steps.

Is CALSP building their own API layer and marketplace?
There is no new API layer; there are new APIs added based on the FOLIO API layer (expanding only). A marketplace is under design. The current base is Goldenrod. The changed and added modules have been upgraded to Kiwi and are in testing. (The changes were added to the Chinese version of the Kiwi modules; this was not so hard for backend modules but not so easy for Stripes UI.)

How can the international FOLIO community change to make it easier for the Chinese FOLIO community to collaborate with us? Different ways of doing meetings? Different tools? Other ideas?
The Chinese community uses many of the same tools as the global project and a few local tools such as Wechat. There are questions about the requirements for including modules in the global version?

What are the ideas that China FOLIO and FOLIO should be sharing and collaborating on and what are the best practices to share some development?
This is an open question. In 2020, Shanghai Library decided to use FOLIO. At the same time, the Chinese FOLIO community was launched; it supports discussion and experts in FOLIO. This community meets each Saturday to plan for new activities. The goal is to expand this outreach to the global community.

What are the ideas that China FOLIO and FOLIO should be sharing and collaborating on and what are the best practices to share some development?
A lot has been learned from the international community, and the Chinese community wants to add back to the international community. The Shanghai Library chose FOLIO because of its unique capabilities to support its need and replace its SirsiDynix system. It is important to support the "smart library" needs of Shanghai and other libraries. The local branding of FOLIO has been trademarked in China to enable the promotion of FOLIO to the Chinese community.  There are needs for changes for the Chinese language, classification, and habits of Chinese library users. Some of these changes may not be important for the international community. What is envisioned is three circles: FOLIO fundamental at the center, the FOLIO/YunHan Chinese Suite in the middle, and the YunHan Extension App Store on the outside.  The flower releases remain at the center of the circle. There are some temporary solutions in the Shanghai Library solution based on needs and misunderstandings; this kind of technical debt will be reduced in the future. The Chinese FOLIO community is facing the same issues as the international community; it is difficult to get the funding needed for development and get people involved and rewarded for their activities. The Chinese FOLIO community is considering a distributed autonomous organization (DAO) in which token holders participate in the management and decision-making. It uses blockchain and smart contracts to ensure that all decisions are unchanged and are publicly viewable. This structure ensures that all participants are recognized and rewarded.

Can the changes to the modules be integrated into the flower releases?

What were the needs that required the Chinese community to make the changes that they did make?

Would like to understand better what modules were unchanged, what was modified, and what was added. Is there a place where this is documented?
Want to work together to build one platform as well. In some cases the processes were different, and the Shanghai Library couldn't afford to wait. There wasn't enough time to do documentation before; in the future, maybe we can slow down a bit to do some work on documentation and conversation.