Governance

March 2025

Overview

The Library Data Platform (LDP) is an open source software project led by Index Data. The project centers on building and supporting an open source analytics platform for Libraries – including Metadb, LDP, and other software that is part of the LDP project. The project was envisioned and created by Nassib Nassar at Index Data, which has been the dominant funding organization. As the project has grown in use cases and stakeholders, it now intends to add additional contributors and funders while also broadening its governance.

The project is supported by the Open Library Foundation (OLF), an unbiased, independent not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the availability, accessibility, and sustainability of open source and open access projects for and by libraries.

The project’s governance is designed to ensure compliance with the requirements of the OLF, and that Index Data’s leadership of the project may continue with support from its community.

Roles and Responsibilities

Manager Positions

There are three positions that are responsible for the governance of LDP:

  • Manager – Leads the administrative aspects of the project, such as negotiating and/or signing agreements with other organizations.
  • Secretary – Maintains records and documentation for the project, such as contracts, meeting minutes, etc.
  • Treasurer – Maintains all financial records and is responsible for financial transactions, such as dues, investments or payments.

This group of three individuals will manage the business affairs of the LDP SMLLC.

Selection of manager positions

  • The Manager will be appointed by Index Data.
  • The Treasurer will be selected by the organizations who contribute funding to the project (Funders).
  • The Secretary will be selected from the community.

No more than one of these positions can be held by an employee of Index Data.

There are no term limits for individuals in these positions. An individual may hold multiple positions.

Technical Oversight Committee (TOC)

The Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) serves as the primary technical decision-making body for the Library Data Platform project. The TOC is responsible for technical architecture decisions, code quality standards, repository management, and the technical roadmap.

Composition

  • The TOC consists of three (3) members.
  • Index Data shall appoint two (2) TOC members.
  • The third TOC member shall be nominated by the community and approved by the Manager.

Responsibilities

  • Manage code repositories and access permissions
  • Review and approve major architectural decisions
  • Establish coding standards and best practices
  • Determine merge authority for repositories
  • Evaluate and approve committer status for contributors
  • Prioritize technical aspects of the product roadmap
  • Provide final technical arbitration on disputed matters

Decision Process

  • Technical decisions require a simple majority vote (2 out of 3 members)
  • Meeting notes from TOC discussions will be made available to the community
  • For significant architectural changes, the TOC will document decisions and rationales

Terms

  • TOC members serve two-year terms
  • There are no term limits
  • Index Data may replace its appointees at its discretion
  • The community-nominated member may be replaced through re-nomination and Manager approval

Funders

Organizations that contribute funds to the project are referred to as Funders. These organizations will nominate and elect the Treasurer to a two year term. Any organization contributing $15,000 per year or more will have a vote in the election of the treasurer.

Funders contribute money to the project to meet defined goals for product development, maintenance and quality.

Funds contributed to the project are first and foremost aimed at reimbursement for development activity. It is understood, however, that there may be other project expenses that need to be accounted for.

As the technical leader of the project, Index Data is the primary development organization. Funds received for development work will be directed to Index Data unless otherwise specified for particular initiatives approved by the Manager.

The project managers will direct the Treasurer as to how the project funds will be distributed. The distribution of funds will be reported back to the Funders at least annually.

Users and Contributors

Users are community members who have a need for the project. Anyone can be a user; there are no special requirements. Users who contribute in concrete ways to the project are referred to as Contributors. Anyone can become a contributor, and contributions can take many forms. There is no expectation of commitment to the project, no specific skill requirements and no selection process.

User contributions enable the project team to ensure that they are satisfying the needs of the users. Common contributions include (but are not limited to):

  • evangelizing about the project (e.g. a link on a website and word-of-mouth awareness raising)
  • informing developers of strengths and weaknesses from a user’s perspective
  • providing moral support (a ‘thank you’ goes a long way)
  • supporting new users (existing users are often the best people to support new users)
  • testing and/or reporting bugs
  • identifying requirements
  • assisting with project infrastructure
  • writing documentation
  • assisting with fundraising or providing funding for particular features or for the general upkeep of the project

Members of the FOLIO Reporting SIG are good examples of individuals that are considered Users and Contributors to LDP.

Committers

Committers are community members who have shown that they are invested in the continued successful development and ongoing engagement with the community. Committer status allows contributors to easily carry on with their project-related activities by giving them direct access to the project’s resources. This includes, but is not limited to, committing code changes.

Anyone can become a committer; there are no special requirements, other than to have shown a willingness and ability to participate in the project as a team player. Typically, a potential committer will need to show that they have an understanding of the project, its technologies, objectives, and its strategy.

Committer Selection Process

New committers can be nominated by any existing committer. Once they have been nominated, the Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) will evaluate the nominee’s skills, background, and previous contributions. The TOC will vote on granting committer status based on the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated understanding of the codebase
  • Quality of past contributions
  • Adherence to project coding standards
  • Collaborative approach to development
  • Consistent participation in the project

The TOC will communicate the decision to the nominee upon completion of the evaluation. Nominees not approved for committer status will receive constructive feedback on areas for improvement.

Committer Responsibilities

  • Review pull requests from contributors
  • Provide feedback on code quality and implementation
  • Assist with onboarding new contributors
  • Help maintain documentation
  • Participate in technical discussions
  • Adhere to project coding standards

Committer Access and Privileges

The TOC will determine the specific repositories and access levels granted to each committer based on their area of expertise and contribution history.

It is important to recognize that committership is a privilege, not a right. That privilege must be earned and once earned it can be removed by the TOC in extreme circumstances. However, under normal circumstances, committership exists for as long as the committer wishes to continue engaging with the project.

Project Direction, Roadmap and Operation

The project Manager, in consultation with the TOC, will work with the community to make the roadmap and its maintenance as transparent and collaborative as possible. Funders, along with Users, Contributors and Committers have input into what capabilities are created and supported within the platform. The roadmap for the project will be maintained publicly.

The TOC will establish and publish guidelines for reviewing external contributions to ensure timely feedback. For significant code contributions, the TOC will provide a timeline for initial assessment.

The Project will operate leveraging open principles and tools. It will hold public meetings, manage code in public repositories (e.g. GitHub), and generally conduct its business in openly accessible tools (e.g. Wiki, issue tracking system).

IP Ownership & Code License

All code for the project is open source, with an Apache 2.0 license. Through its standard Contributor License Agreement framework, the LDP Project (when incorporated as an SMLLC) will have the ability to relicense the software, and will grant a royalty-free revocable nonexclusive license to the OLF.