The VIVO project has always been "open source". However, as the project progresses we are moving from just "open source" to "open source open development". This is not a simple tasks, with openness brings concerns of accessibility. Many projects are open source and open development, but some lack the tools to enable passerby's to become engaged in their project.
What do we need to do to be open and accessible? Open information? A team at the UF Libraries is migrating data from Cornell's confluence and UF's redmine to the sourceforge wiki. The JIRA ticketing system used by the VIVO teams has been opened for anonymous viewing. Open Communication? VIVO has its an IRC channel on freendode, #VIVO. We also have open listsservs on sourceforge that are archived so anyone can read and search.
All of these open avenues help us as a project be more accessible, but that doesn't mean the information is easily accessible. It will be interesting in the next few weeks, months, even years as the project grows. What is required to make our project more accessible? Is it better organization, better tools? Only time will tell.
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