In keeping with the theme of this year’s Open Repositories conference, this session will highlight the ways that the Islandora community has adopted a development workflow that includes the end users of Islandora in the process.

Many of Islandora’s users are operating out of small institutions with limited technical staff support. They need a reliable, flexible system that is simple to install and manage. Meeting the needs of these users has shaped Islandora, not just in terms of the software, but in terms of how the software is built, and how we include end users in the process so that they have a stake and can contribute to open source when already strapped for resources. Our engagement tools include: community governance, community-led interest groups, a volunteer-led release process with roles for non-developers, and active consultation over major software decisions and roadmaps.