2023 Product Council Election

Owned by Marko Knepper
Last updated: Jun 06, 2023
6 min read

The FOLIO Product Council guides the functional development of the FOLIO Library Services Platform.  The Product Council (PC) manages the scope of the FOLIO product. PC has the key responsibility of providing the product vision, strategy & roadmap with close collaboration with the Community and Technical Councils. 

Seats on the Product Council are available to Members of the FOLIO community, in accordance with the FOLIO Governance Model. Member is defined as an individual who is an employee or a sponsored contractor of a Member Organization. Individuals will be elected to seats for two year terms. Shorter terms may be required for the initial transition period or to fill seats that become vacant between elections..

The Product Council is will be seeking nominees who have deep experience with one or more of:

  • Strong collaboration skills, able to drive decisions that champion the interests of the community and project
  • Leadership experience
  • Library management systems and library workflows
  • Library system specification and implementation
  • Prioritizing features in an environment of many competing interests
  • Traditional software product management, market analysis, etc.
  • Planning and executing software development projects, product ownership, project management
  • Agile software development methodologies, including Epic, Feature and Story creation 
  • Knowledge of recent library operations and future needs
  • Experience with defining functional requirements and understanding of technical requirements
  • Knowledge of FOLIO features and functionality as it applies to daily operational use
  • Participating in and/or managing open community governance

See also FOLIO Governance Model Election Process and previous elections.

The current members are:

There are 6 open seats on the Product Council, for 2-year terms starting July 2023. Product Council members currently serving a term that ends June 2023 may stand for re-election.

Dates

Nominations will be collected from April 12 through April 19, 2023 via the nomination form here - extended to May 1.

Voting will be open from May 15, 2023 through May 29,2023.

Successful candidates will join the council on July 1, 2023

Nominees

THANK YOU to all of the nominees for their interest in helping FOLIO become its best.

The following individuals have been nominated:

NameInstitutionCandidate Statement
Kristin E. MartinUniversity of Chicago Library
As a current member and co-chair of the Product Council, I am interested in continuing my service. I contributed to shaping FOLIO development since its inception, in early conversations with user interface designers, subject matter experts, and product owners. With a strong background in e-resources management, acquisitions, and metadata management, I bring subject expertise, leadership, and experience working with open-source solutions and library organizations to my candidacy. I’m eager to continue to serve on the Product Council, shaping the development of FOLIO across all functional areas and carrying the project forward into its next stage of development.
Jennifer EustisFive CollegesAs a metadata librarian at the UMass Amherst Libraries, I coordinate batch activities at UMass and at Five Colleges Consortium. I've been involved with FOLIO since 2019. During our migration, I chaired our record merge project since we not only migrated but merged a portion of our bibliographic records. Before coming to UMass Amherst in late 2018, I was a content administrator and project manager on the digital repository Connecticut Digital Archive which relied on open source software. I'm committed to FOLIO as an open source alternative to vended solutions. As a result, I feel it's important to ensure that FOLIO remains guided by community members with a diversity of backgrounds and experience that meets the needs of libraries.
Lisa McCollLehigh University LibraryAs the Metadata Services Manager at Lehigh University, I have been working with FOLIO and its development as a subject matter specialist since its inception. An early adopter, Lehigh University has been in production with FOLIO since 2020. As a result I have a deep knowledge of various aspects of FOLIO, both as a tool and as a project. I have had the honor of working with many excellent colleagues on various FOLIO SIGs, working groups, and subgroups throughout the past few years. I would welcome the opportunity to help guide the functional development and roadmap in this critical period of FOLIO growth, bringing my knowledge and enthusiasm about the project and tool to the Product Council.
Martina SchildtGBV / VZG Göttingen

As GBV ERM project and implementation lead I have been involved in FOLIO community since 2018. 

My current engagement:

I am 

•    convener of App Interaction SIG to advance community cross-app needs

•    convener of ERM SIG

•    member of FOLIO Prioritization and Roadmap Working Group to gain knowledge about community requirements and influence the roadmap and development where possible

•    member of Onboarding Group to help new members finding their way into active community participation

•    member of several other SIGs such as Acquisitions SIG

I would like to continue to serve on the Product Council and assist in supporting communication across the project, effective prioritisation as well as release preparation and resourcing.

Owen StephensKnowledge Integration

I am a qualified librarian with 25 years of experience working in and with academic and research libraries. I have been a product owner (PO) in the Folio community since 2018 when I started work on the Agreements and Licenses modules to deliver Electronic Resource Management (ERM) functionality in Folio and have since taken on PO responsibilities for Open Access and Serials Management. I also regularly attend and contribute to Technical Council meetings. I have been a member of the Product Council since 2021 and would be keen to serve another term. With my experience I believe that I am able to represent both product owners and librarians effectively while bringing technical knowledge and experience to the council.

Charlotte WhittIndex DataAs the Lead Product Owner of several Development teams funded by libraries (Sif, Odin, Gutenberg), and Index Data's development team Thor, I have been working with FOLIO and its development since 2017. I can contribute to the Product Council with many years of experience working with developers and with Subject Matter Experts from especially the MM SIG, the RA SIG, the App-Interaction SIG, and the Support SIG. I love working with my FOLIO colleagues, and I believe strongly in the vision for FOLIO's vibrant community being actively engaged in the development of FOLIO, and I would be happy to contribute to the PC with my insight knowledge as an experienced Product Owner and help enhance the PC's involvement in the development of FOLIO. 
Brooks TravisEBSCO Information ServicesI am seeking re-election to the Product Council. I originally joined as a representative of Missouri State University, where I was the Coordinator of Library Information Technology from 2016-2021 and implementation project lead for our FOLIO implementation in 2020. I have previously served as a Product Owner on FOLIO (INN-Reach and Requests) and am highly active in the community, including my current term on the PC and regular participation in several SIGs. In 2022 I joined EBSCO as a Sr. FOLIO Implementation Consultant. I believe strongly in the mission of the FOLIO project, the community building it, and the role the PC plays in that process. If re-elected, I will work diligently to ensure FOLIO’s continued growth and success.
Jesse KoenneckeCornell University Library

Active on the FOLIO Product Council since 2016, serving as chair (2020-2021). I served on the FOLIO Governance Task Force, the PC vision and Strategy Working Group, and am convener for the Prioritization & Roadmap Working Group.

I have 20+ years of experience in a wide range of library functional areas, currently serving as Director of Acquisitions & E-Resource Licensing. I have provided support for library tools, led implementations of workflow and discovery systems, and defined & prioritized functional requirements for library software.

Community-driven, open source solutions are the future of libraries and I will work with the community to make FOLIO be the preferred choice for libraries worldwide.

Terence IngramNational Library of AustraliaWith over 20 years of experience working in multiple technology roles, I am confident that I have the mix of specialist skills, leadership experience and pragmatism to positively contribute. Since joining the National Library of Australia in 2007 I have developed a deep knowledge of the Library universe. With fifteen years experience on the tools as a software developer and seven years as a Director (Software Development and later Technology Operations) at the National Library, I appreciate the highs and lows of building highly complex products with many different stakeholders. Currently, I am the Project Manager implementing FOLIO and Blacklight into the myriad of other systems within the software eco-system at the National Library. 

Announced until May 2


Elected Members

The following people have been elected to serve 2-year terms from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025: