For some time, a key use case for SAFIRE has been integration with various library services such as publishers and data providers. Despite their importance to the federation, thus far we’ve not had a communication channel aimed explicitly at systems librarians and library staff making these integrations work. That’s about to change

To date, we’ve tended to rely on word-of-mouth, our library resources page, and our regular support channels to let people know about new integrations or troubleshoot existing ones. While we’ve been moderately successful with this approach, it is not without shortcomings. In particular, when working with a new provider, we often find that we don’t know which other institutions might be interested and willing to support an attempt to federate a resource.

We hope to improve this communication by introducing a new SAFIRE mailing list, safire-libs@lists, specifically aimed at institutional library staff who’re interested in federating library resources. The new list serves as place for people to share best practices for integrating library services with SAFIRE or express interest in new ones. And as we test the compatibility of services with SAFIRE, we’ll announce relevant ones to the institutional library communities via the list.

The safire-libs@lists mailing list is a closed, opt-in list and subscription is restricted to South African Member institutions.