(First things first: EaaSI is going all-caps. Introducing EAASI – which is, yes, easier to type. And we have a snazzy new logo and playfully retro-green color scheme.)
For the past year and a half, as part of our Mellon- and Sloan-funded sustainability planning for the future of the EAASI software, the EAASI team at Yale has been working on next steps for an organizational collaboration with Educopia Institute and the Software Preservation Network (SPN). This collaboration was approved by a vote of SPN member organizations in June.
In accordance with the vote, the international community of EAASI software users has become known as the International EAASI Research Alliance. SPN has become the exclusive entry point to the Alliance. Yale Library continues to serve as the headquarters of product development for the EAASI software and will incorporate regular feedback from the EAASI Research Alliance into the software product roadmap.
Qualified organizations who are members of SPN have the option to participate in the EAASI Research Alliance as part of their SPN membership benefits. The EAASI Research Alliance Subcommittee of SPN’s Coordinating Committee has been leading planning for the Alliance.
SPN, Educopia, and Yale are making a shared commitment to move towards more equitable access to software preservation and emulation research initiatives. In keeping with SPN’s values of sustainability and community, SPN has moved to a tiered membership fee structure starting in 2025. Yale has made a substantial commitment to the development of the EAASI software and a Software Preservation and Emulation unit of three Yale staff members (Claire, Ethan, and Wendy) who spearhead software documentation, training, community-of-practice conversations, and events related to the software.
As part of the launch of the Alliance, users will see design and architectural changes to the EAASI User Forum over the coming months. The grant-funded hosted pilot instance of EAASI from 2021 is being sunset to make way for a U.S. deployment of EAASI hosted by SPN and, through a 2025 pilot, an Australian deployment of EAASI hosted by the Australian Academic and Research Network.
The Yale EAASI software team, SPN’s Program Manager, and the SPN Coordinating Committee will be sharing more updates about the launch of the Alliance and the EAASI software’s next chapter via the SPN website and the EAASI User Forum over the coming months. In the meantime, feel free to email softwarepreservation[at]yale.edu with any questions.