2025.12.11 FITS Transition Planning Meeting

Call-in details

Time

11am ET (convert to your timezone)

Zoom link

https://harvard.zoom.us/j/95857296778?pwd=oHyZtcnfXAAtqGibJbuIbeCSmyAmHs.1

Attendees

1. Andrew Woods – Harvard Library
2. Dee Dee Crema – Harvard Library
3. Ross Spencer – Independent contractor; formerly Archives New Zealand / The National Archives (UK)
4. Mark Jordan – Simon Fraser University; Islandora community representative
5. Scott Prater – University of Wisconsin–Madison
6. Carol Kussmann – University of Minnesota Libraries
7. Danielle Taylor – Indiana University / Digital POWRR
8. Brandon Pieczko – Indiana University School of Medicine
9. Annie Oelschlager – Northern Illinois University; Islandora community
10. Aubrey Shanahan – Islandora Foundation (Community Manager)
11. Joe (last name not stated) – Institution not provided (mic issues; not recorded in transcript)
12. Anna Goslen – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
13. Melissa Torres – University of California, Irvine
14. Frank López-Huerta – University of California, Irvine
15. Ben Barber – Boston Public Library
16. Eben English – Boston Public Library
17. Carla Galarza – University of Pennsylvania Libraries
18. Vera Marz – German National Library
19. Seth Shaw – Originally Duke University (creator of Data Accessioner); current institution not stated

Agenda

1. Introductions
2. FITS project status
3. Transition options and planning
4. Next steps

Context

Over the years, many of you have helped make FITS a widely used and well-loved tool. Thank you. Harvard’s capacity to maintain and update FITS has steadily decreased. In addition, our upcoming migration to a new digital preservation repository includes its own tools for technical metadata extraction. Taken together, Harvard will no longer be able to host and steward the FITS project. We want to discuss the path forward with the community. Please join an open conversation on FITS Transition Planning. All are welcome. We encourage practitioners, contributors, and organizations that rely on FITS to attend and share perspectives on options and needs. Thank you for your continued support of the project.

Notes

transcript

A.I.-generated summary

Prompt:

Provide a concise summary of these meeting notes; provide salient takeaways; provide next steps and action items.

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Participants from numerous institutions discussed the future stewardship of FITS, given Harvard Library’s declining ability to maintain it. FITS remains widely used across digital preservation infrastructures, and attendees expressed strong interest in ensuring its sustainability. The conversation focused on identifying potential organizational homes (notably the Open Preservation Foundation (OPF)), coordinating cross-community support, and outlining immediate steps to formalize governance, expand committer access, explore funding, and prepare for a structured transition. There was consistent affirmation that FITS is still valuable, widely embedded, and worth sustaining collaboratively.

Salient Takeaways

1. Harvard intends to step back from active FITS stewardship. Harvard will keep the repository available but cannot resource ongoing development or maintenance. A transition is necessary for long-term viability.
2. FITS continues to be mission-critical infrastructure. Institutions across preservation ecosystems (Islandora, Samvera, Data Accessioner, custom repositories) rely on FITS for file characterization and metadata normalization.
3. OPF emerges as the strongest candidate for future hosting. OPF already maintains core FITS dependencies (JHOVE, Jpylyzer), has relevant mission alignment, and is open to hosting community software with appropriate support.
4. A transition will require a demonstrable community commitment. OPF will expect: – a clear committer model and active contributors – evidence of community need and support (e.g., open letter) – possible funding or in-kind development resources
5. Other organizations may provide support or advocacy. Islandora Foundation, Samvera, Digital POWRR, and DPC were identified as parties who could coordinate outreach, fundraising, or public backing.
6. FITS maintenance burden is not large. Workload is mostly routine: dependency updates, vulnerability patching, occasional integration of new tools, and general code stewardship.

Next Steps & Action Items

Harvard / Andrew Woods

• Clarify OPF requirements for adopting FITS (scope, expectations, funding, governance).
• Schedule a follow-up meeting in early 2026 at the same time slot (11:00 ET).
• Send a meeting summary and initial action outline to the mailing list.
• Collaborate on drafting a formal committer framework (roles, permissions, processes).

Community (General)

• Review existing GitHub issues and PRs to demonstrate active engagement and begin refreshing project activity.
• Identify potential committers (individuals or institutional developers) willing to participate under a new governance model.
• Contribute to an open letter articulating FITS’ community value, institutional dependencies, and support for an OPF transition.

Specific Individuals / Groups

• Mark Jordan & Scott Prater – Draft the open letter; coordinate signatures across communities.
• Aubrey Shanahan (Islandora Foundation) – Disseminate information within Islandora; gauge interest in support, funding strategies, and collaboration.
• Eben English (Samvera) – Initiate conversation within Samvera leadership (e.g., Heather) about endorsement, collaboration, or funding advocacy.

Islandora Technical Advisory Group (Andy/Annie, Seth)

• Discuss FITS' future within TAG; identify Java-capable contributors if possible.

Longer-term Actions

• Define a transition roadmap for moving the repository, documentation, and ancillary assets (e.g., fitstools.org) to a new steward.
• Build a sustainability plan covering governance, maintenance cadence, and community contributions.
• Explore expanded functionality only after stabilization and transition planning are completed.