ibiblio helps found open-source advocacy group

ibiblio, a conservancy of freely available information on the Internet based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a founding member of a new group aiming to promote use of open-source technology by the federal government.

The new group announced today, Open Source for America, is cross-section of more than 50 companies, universities, communities and individuals holding that government can and should become more transparent, participatory, secure and efficient by using open-source software.

The group also holds that the open-source community can drive collaborative innovation for government; and that a decision to use software should be driven solely by the requirements of the user. For more information about Open Source for America, visit http://opensourceforamerica.org.

The term “open source” refers to software that is distributed with its source code, so that user organizations and vendors can modify it for their own purposes. Most open-source licenses allow the software to be redistributed without restriction under the same terms of the license. For more information, visit www.opensource.org.

ibiblio, accessed at www.ibiblio.org, was one of the world’s first Web sites and is the largest collection of collections on the Internet. It is supported by UNC’s School of Information and Library Science and School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“We’re delighted to help explain and promote the rewards and benefits of open sources to the government sector,” said Paul Jones, director of ibiblio and clinical associate professor at both schools. “Open code is a giant step toward providing the kind of transparency and accountability that democracies require.”

Only two North Carolina universities are represented in Open Source for America: Carolina and N.C. State University in Raleigh. Others represented are the University of California’s Irvine and Merced branches; Carnegie Mellon; Oregon State University; and the University of Southern Mississippi.

ibiblio’s goals include expanding and improving the creation and distribution of open-source software; continuing UNC programs to develop an online library and archive; hosting projects that expand the concepts of transparency and openness; and serving as a model for other open-source projects.

ibiblio.org has been host to several government-related sites over the years, including the White House Transition Project and OpenGovernment.org.

About Open Source for America:
Open Source for America is a coalition of industry leaders, associations, non-government groups and academic/research institutions organized to serve as a centralized advocate, to encourage broader U.S. Federal Government support of and participation in Free and Open Source projects and technologies.  Membership in Open Source for America is open to any individual or entity signing the campaign's mission pledge.  You can follow Open Source for America on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/OpenSourceGov

About ibiblio:
ibiblio.org is one of the world’s first Web sites and largest “collections of collections” on the Internet. It is a conservancy of freely available information, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics and cultural studies. ibiblio.org was formed as a collaboration between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's MetaLab, formerly known as SunSITE, and the Center for the Public Domain in September of 2000. At UNC at Chapel Hill, ibiblio is supported by the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The collaboration has multiple components including, but not limited to, programs to:

• Expand and improve the distribution of open source software;
• Continue UNC's programs to develop an on-line library and archive;
• Host and foster projects that expand the concepts of transparency and openness into new areas;
• Create, expand, improve, publish, and distribute research on the open source communities;
• Expand and improve the creation of and distribution of open source software and documentation;
• Serve as a model for other open source projects.