2025-11-10 Resource Access Meeting Notes

Date: Nov 10, 2025 

Recordings

NOTE: RESOURCE ACCESS SIG USES EITHER ZOOM’S AI NOTES FUNCTIONALITY OR MICROSOFT COPILOT TO PROCESS THE TRANSCRIPT. If you would prefer that we do not use AI any session you attend, we are happy to! Please alert the convener at the start of the meeting.

Find all recordings here: https://recordings.openlibraryfoundation.org/folio/resource-access-sig/ (pw: folio-lsp)

Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/337279319 (pw: folio-lsp)

Attendees

@Susan Kimball

Wendy Jones

Jordan Nielsen

Katrina Bailey

Kirsten Gross

@Steve Strohl

@Scott Peterson

@Cornelia Awenius

@David Bottorff

Holly Murkerson

Robin Wolven

@Erin Weller

@Jacob Dudley

@Tara Barnett

Matt McNelis

@Thomas Trutt

@Katie Rahman

@Robert Heaton

@Anja Kakau

Donna Church

David Reeves

Tiffany

Heather

Discussion Items:

Meeting Notes

AI-Generated minutes (pardon any errors)

Discussion Points:

• Newcomer Introductions and Institutional Outreach (00:05:45 – 00:23:10)

  • Susan Kimball and Cornelia Awenius opened the session by welcoming a significant number of new participants. The meeting served as a broad re-introduction to the SIG's purpose due to this high influx of new members.

  • Institutional Representation: Representatives introduced themselves from a wide array of institutions, including the University of Chicago, Missouri/MOBIUS, Middle Tennessee State, Michigan State, Cornell, and several German academic library networks.

• The Role and Functional Scope of the RA SIG (00:23:55 – 00:51:10)

  • Susan Kimball provided a comprehensive overview of the Resource Access Special Interest Group (SIG) and its critical role in the FOLIO development lifecycle. She explained that the SIG acts as the primary body of subject matter experts (SMEs) responsible for defining requirements for circulation, request management, and fee/fine logic.

  • Balancing Development Priorities: A significant portion of the discussion focused on the "art of the possible" regarding software development. Susan emphasized that the SIG must balance the desire for covering all used cases with the practical necessity of getting functional code into production. This involves constant negotiation with product owners and developers to prioritize the most impactful features.

  • Consultative Nature: The group discussed how they serve as a sounding board for developers. When technical constraints arise, the SIG provides guidance on how to adjust functional requirements without compromising the essential needs of library workflows.

• Community Onboarding, Communication, and Tools (00:51:24 – 01:00:58)

  • Cornelia Awenius led a walkthrough of the essential tools used to manage FOLIO development and communication. This was specifically aimed at empowering new members to contribute effectively.

  • Slack and Wiki: The primary real-time communication happens in the #folio-resource-access Slack channel. Cornelia demonstrated the SIG’s Wiki (Confluence) page, which houses the "Topics Calendar," meeting minutes, and the participant list. She encouraged everyone to add their names to the participant list to ensure they are included in future outreach.

  • JIRA and Bugfest: The group discussed the use of JIRA for tracking bugs and feature requests. Susan explained the importance of "Bugfest," the collaborative testing period that occurs before each major FOLIO release (e.g., the Ramsons or Sunflower releases), where SIG members perform User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure new code meets institutional standards.

• Meeting Logistics and Calendar Maintenance (01:01:00 – 01:02:38)

  • The leadership noted that the current recurring calendar invitation was set to expire at the end of December. Cornelia confirmed she would renew the invite for the coming year to maintain the consistent Monday meeting schedule.

  • Agenda Setting: Susan invited members to contribute to future agendas by adding items directly to the Wiki or messaging the leads on Slack. This ensures the SIG remains responsive to the immediate needs of the implementing libraries.

✅ Decisions Made:

• Lazy Consensus Model: The SIG reaffirmed its use of "lazy consensus." Decisions and minutes are posted to the Wiki; if no objections are raised within a reasonable timeframe, the decision is considered final. This allows the group to remain agile despite its large size.

• Meeting Continuity: It was decided to continue the current meeting cadence into 2026, with Cornelia Awenius handling the technical renewal of the calendar invites.

📄 Action Items and Follow-up:

• Wiki Registration: All new attendees are tasked with adding their name and institutional affiliation to the SIG participant list on the top-level Wiki page.

• Slack Integration: New members who have not yet joined the FOLIO Slack are encouraged to do so and join the #folio-resource-access and #folio-implementers channels.

• Calendar Update: Cornelia Awenius will distribute the renewed meeting invite to the mailing list before the end of the month.