Harvard University

Harvard's Institute for Quantitative Social Science will analyze the characteristics and activities of 10 successful open source projects to determine a set of guidelines that help grow and maintain a healthy open source community. Many academic and public libraries build or make use of open source projects to provide affordable and sustainable tools built by and for the community. The team will seek to determine how an open source project is sustained, what it takes to build a growing and vibrant open source community, and which types of open source projects are reliable for use and participation. This planning grant will define the study design, engage partners, and host an expert workshop.