Jon Dunn
Assistant Dean for Library Technologies
Indiana University
Evviva Weinraub
Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies
Northwestern University
Avalon Media System is an open source system, based on Fedora and Hydra repository technologies, that enables libraries and archives to more easily provide online access to digitized and born-digital audio and video collections for purposes of teaching, learning, and research. Now in its fourth major release, Avalon has been co-developed by the libraries at Indiana University Bloomington and Northwestern University, with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It has been implemented or is in the process of being implemented by at least six institutions, but there is not currently a formal pathway for adopters to contribute financial or development resources to help sustain the project. In this session, we will: 1) provide an update on Avalon features and architecture (Avalon was last presented at CNI in April 2013, prior to its version 1.0 release); 2) show real-world use cases for which Avalon has been applied by adopters, and 3) discuss our current Mellon-funded work on creating a long-term sustainability plan that includes greater integration with the larger Hydra community, development of a strategy for rapid adoption, and the piloting of Avalon as a subscription software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. We will also lead a discussion with the audience of barriers and motivators for adoption of and investment in open source software such as Avalon.
