The FOLIO community welcomes the opportunity to apply for the 2023 season of Google’s Season of Docs initiative. The Google Season of Docs program is an effort to bring technical writers and open source projects together to foster collaboration and improve documentation in the open source space.  During the program, technical writers work closely with an open source community. They bring their technical writing expertise to the project’s documentation and learn about the open source project and new technologies.

As a community building an open source library services platform, the FOLIO community is inviting experienced technical writers to explore working with us to enhance our current documentation. 

Project Proposal: Translate documentation on docs.folio.org

About our organization

FOLIO is a community project for and by librarians and vendors alike to develop the FOLIO open source library management system or library services platform (LSP). FOLIO is an entirely new platform, designed by academic librarians, and written from the ground up as the first new LSP in 10 years.  FOLIO seeks to provide libraries with more choice in how to develop, deploy and manage library software.

The FOLIO platform integrates the management of print and electronic resources; it includes functionality to manage the circulation of print materials, their cataloging and acquisitions, as well functionality to manage electronic resources including the library’s e-journal subscriptions or e-books. Yet FOLIO goes beyond ‘traditional’ library functionality. In order to drive continuous innovation, the platform leverages a microservices architecture. Rather than comprising a single, monolithic system, FOLIO supports smaller apps, so libraries can enjoy easier updates and benefit from faster development. Libraries can work on these apps independently or work with different vendors and different teams who may contribute and develop apps in their areas of expertise. The FOLIO APIs are thereby open, so the platform can integrate more easily with existing campus and library systems – providing libraries more choice for services today and in the future.

FOLIO is an open source project under the Open Library Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to open source in libraries. The FOLIO roadmap, requirements, discussions and code are all public. Community resources include:

• folio.org
• wiki.folio.org
• github.com/folio-org
• docs.folio.org
• dev.folio.org
• issues.folio.org
• discuss.folio.org

About the project

Project problem

Currently, our documentation is produced only in English.  FOLIO is in use by libraries worldwide, and we expect our documentation to be available in multiple languages. We are looking for someone who has had experience in documentation translation and can help establish how we manage the translation process.  As part of the process, we also want to ensure that any changes that are made in the English language content are reflected in the translated versions.

Project scope

In scope

We expect this project to: 

• Help establish the technologies and procedures needed for translation
• Produce an initial set of translated documents

Out of scope

FOLIO has extensive English language documentation.  We do not expect that this project produce all the documentation for all the languages we eventually want to support.  Rather, we are interested in establishing a solid foundation on which to build our non-English language materials.

Project success

We will consider the project a success if:

• There will be documentation available in at least one more language besides English.
• Technologies are evaluated and selected for use in the translation process.
• There will be a clear standard regarding processes for the creation and maintenance of non-English content.

Project timeline

Project budget

Additional Information

Previous experience with technical writers or documentation:

As a technical writer/editor with over twenty-five years of experience, I have managed global teams of writers and mentored writers of varying degrees of experience. In the context of the Season of Docs program, I both reviewed the writers’ content myself and facilitated the connection between the writers and the appropriate subject matter experts.  They conducted their reviews both via Zoom and via shared Google docs.  Each of the writers brought a wealth of skills to bear on our project. Each was able to work effectively and efficiently with the relevant subject matter experts to clarify needs and resolve any open questions as they arose.

Previous participation in Season of Docs, Google Summer of Code or others: 

FOLIO first participated in Google Season of Docs in 2020 and continued on to participate in the 2021 season as well.  We originally worked with two technical writers, each of whom contributed significantly to the documentation effort. On the more technical side, one writer worked to create documentation of the installation process.  This content is of significant use both to institutions who are considering moving to our open source library platform, as well as to those who are already pursuing implementation.  Our other writer focused on librarians using the FOLIO platform in their day-to-day roles as librarians. With this content developed, the project is now able to better support end users as they perform their job-related tasks.  

Project Ideas 

The following ideas were considered as candidates for FOLIO documentation projects.

Project idea: Translation of FOLIO documentation on docs.folio.org

Problem

• Currently, our documentation is produced only in English.  FOLIO is in use by libraries worldwide, and we expect our documentation to be available in multiple languages. We are looking for someone who has had experience in documentation translation and can help ensure that any changes made in the English documentation are reflected in the translated versions.

How would we measure success

• There will be documentation available in at least one more language besides English.
• There will be technologies and processes in place to ensure changes in the English content are reflected in the non-English content.

What skills would a technical writer need to work on this project?

• Must have: Experience in translation/localization of documentation
• Nice to have: Ability to work with subject matter experts across the globe
• Nice to have: Knowledge of the library industry

Project idea: Add graphics to docs.folio.org

Problem

• Our current documentation is text-heavy, and could be improved with the addition of graphics or short videos.  The graphics should be consistent and use the appropriate colors and branding.  To that end, some current graphics can be re-created to better align with FOLIO branding guidelines.

How would we measure success

• Add at least one graphic or video to each of the apps documented in docs.folio.org.
• There will be consistency among the graphics/videos.
• There will be a clear standard regarding the creation and maintenance of graphics/videos. 

What skills would a technical writer need to work on this project?

• Must have: Graphic design
• Nice to have: Video creation
• Nice to have: Instructional design
• Nice to have: Ability to work with subject matter experts across the globe
• Nice to have: Knowledge of the library industry

Project idea: Improve search on docs.folio.org

Problem

• Our current search engine does not always produce the most relevant results. We would like to review how we can improve the search functionality, for example, by implementing a new search engine.

How would we measure success

• Subject matter experts in the community positively evaluate search results.

What skills would a technical writer need to work on this project?

• Must have: Knowledge of different search engines, and which could be integrated into our site 
• Nice to have: Knowledge of the library industry

For more information about FOLIO documentation projects, please contact marcia1.folio@gmail.com.