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Red Hat Center, a private foundation established to champion the free exchange
of ideas, announced a five-year collaborative project with Carolina Sept. 11.
The project, funded with a $4 million gift from Red Hat Center to the
University, will launch a new World Wide Web site called "ibiblio"
(http://www.ibiblio.org).
Dubbed "The Public's Library" by organizers, ibiblio will offer software
archives, music archives, large text database projects and special exhibits.
The site is dedicated to maintaining the open source philosophy in the
development and management of its collections.
Some of the Internet's most respected and most-used software archives reside on
ibiblio. Organizers say ibiblio will become the largest collection of freely
available and publicly accessible information on the web.
"ibiblio is a unique community of contributors sharing tricks of the trades
across disciplines," said Paul Jones, professor of information and library
science at Carolina. Jones founded ibiblio and MetaLab, an earlier and
pioneering web site based at the University. "When we at MetaLab came up with
the idea for ibiblio, we were intent on keeping a close relation to the open
source model in the compilation and sharing of collections. We have compiled
items as varied as KGB archives, material from an international chemistry
society and Cajun folk music, all for the purpose of sharing information with
everyone -- hence the title `The Public's Library.'"
Bob Young, co-founder of Red Hat Inc. and chair of Red Hat Center, said the
gift to ibiblio is perfectly aligned with the center's goals.
"ibiblio holds true to Red Hat Center's mission of advancing and promoting the
principles underlying the open source movement - most notably, the free and
robust exchange of information and the development of technology that is both
publicly accessible and comprehensible," he said.
Red Hat Center and Carolina launched the Web site Sept. 11 on the University
campus with remarks by Roger McGuinn, a musician formerly with the Byrds who
testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this summer on musical
copyright issues. Also participating were Young, Jones and University
Chancellor James Moeser. Attendees were able to see and hear videos and
recordings such as the site's new collection from Goldband records.
"We pride ourselves as a university on the forefront of technology, and have
been delighted with the success that MetaLab has experienced over the past
eight years," Moeser said. "With the gift from Red Hat Center, ibiblio will
increase its already unprecedented collection and share its content with an
even broader segment of the public."
Red Hat Center was endowed by Young and Marc Ewing, the founders of Red Hat
Inc. in Durham. The center was founded in January to create a framework to
apply the open source philosophy to other fields. The center aims to aid in the
promotion of open communication between developers, users, public policy
leaders and businesses.
The gift to Carolina is the center's largest to date. More information about
the center is available at http://www.rhcenter.org
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