How do you collaborate on a piece of software with a community of users and developers distributed around the world? Lanie and Saira from the British Library’s Universal Viewer team share their recent experience with a ‘community sprint’... 

Back in July, digital agency Cogapp tested the current version of the Universal Viewer (UV) against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 and came up with a list of suggestions to enhance compliance.  

As accessibility is a top priority, the UV Steering Group decided to host a community sprint - an event focused on tackling these suggestions while boosting engagement and fostering collaboration. Sprints are typically internal, but the community sprint was open to anyone from the broader open-source community.

18 participants from 6 organisations teamed up to make the Universal Viewer more accessible - true collaboration in action!

The sprint took place for two weeks in October. Everyone brought unique skills and perspectives, making it a true community effort.

Software engineers worked on development tasks, such as improving screen reader compatibility, fixing keyboard navigation problems, and enhancing element visibility. Testing engineers ensured functionality, and non-technical participants assisted with planning, translations and management.

The group had different levels of experience, which made it important to provide a supportive environment for learning and collaboration.  

The project board at the end of the Sprint - not every issue was finished, but the sprint was still a success with over 30 issues completed in two weeks.

Some of those involved shared their thoughts on the sprint: 

Bruce Herman - Development Team Lead, British Library: 'It was a great opportunity to collaborate with other development teams in the BL and the UV Community.'

Demian Katz - Director of Library Technology, Villanova University: 'As a long-time member of the Universal Viewer community, it was really exciting to see so many new people working together effectively to improve the project.'

Sara Weale - Head of Web Design & Development, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru - National Library of Wales: 'Taking part in this accessibility sprint was an exciting and rewarding experience. As Scrum Master, I had the privilege of facilitating the inception, daily stand-ups, and retrospective sessions, helping to keep the team focused and collaborative throughout. It was fantastic to see web developers from the National Library of Wales working alongside the British Library, Falvey Library (Villanova University), and other members of the Universal Viewer Steering Group.

This sprint marked the first time an international, cross-community team came together in this way, and the sense of shared purpose and camaraderie was truly inspiring. Some of the key lessons I took away from the sprint was the need for more precise task estimation, as well as the value of longer sprints to allow for deeper problem-solving. Despite these challenges, the fortnight was defined by excellent communication and a strong collective commitment to addressing accessibility issues.

Seeing the team come together so quickly and effectively highlighted the power of collaboration to drive meaningful progress, ultimately enhancing the Universal Viewer for a more inclusive future.'

BL Test Engineers: 

Damian Burke: 'Having worked on UV for a number of years, this was my first community sprint. What stood out for me was the level of collaboration and goodwill from everyone on the team. How quickly we formed into a working agile team was impressive. From a UV tester's perspective, I learned a lot from using new tools like Vercel and exploring GitHub's advanced functionality.'

Alex Rostron: 'It was nice to collaborate and work with skilled people from all around the world to get a good number of tickets over the line.'

Danny Taylor: 'I think what I liked most was how organised the sprints were. It was great to be involved in my first BL retrospective.'

 

A Miro board was used for Sprint planning and the retrospective – a review meeting after the Sprint where we determined what went well and what we would improve for next time.

Experience from the sprint helped us to organise a further sprint within the UV Steering Group for admin-related work, aimed at improving documentation to ensure clearer processes and better support for contributors. Looking ahead, we're planning to release UV 4.1.0 in the new year, incorporating the enhancements we've made - we’ll share another update when the release candidate is ready for review.

Building on the success of the community sprint, we're excited to make these collaborative efforts a key part of our strategic roadmap. Join us and help shape the future of UV!

Open source software is a valuable alternative to commercial software, but its decentralised nature often leads to less than polished user interfaces. This has also been the case for the Universal Viewer (UV), despite attempts over the years to improve the user experience (UX) for viewing digital collections. Improving the usability of the UV is just one of the challenges that the British Library's UV team have taken on. We've even recruited an expert volunteer to help!

Digital Curator Mia Ridge talks to UX expert Scott Jenson about his background in user experience design, his interest in working with open source software, and what he's noticed so far about the user experience of the Universal Viewer.

Mia: Hi Scott! Could you tell our readers a little about your background, and how you came to be interested in the UX of open source software?

Scott: I’ve been working in commercial software my entire life (Apple, Google and a few startups) and it became clear over time that the profit motive is often at odds with users’ needs. I’ve been exploring open source as an alternative.

Mia: I noticed your posts on Mastodon about looking for volunteer opportunities as you retired from professional work at just about the time that Erin (Product Owner for the Universal Viewer at the British Library) and I were wondering how we could integrate UX and usability work into the Library's plans for the UV. Have you volunteered before, and do you think it'll become a trend for others wondering how to use their skills after retirement?

Scott: Google has a program where you can leave your position for 3 months and volunteer on a project within Google.org. I worked on a project to help California Forestry analyse and map out the most critical areas in need of treatment. It was a lovely project and felt quite impactful. It was partly due to that project that put me on this path.

Mia: Why did you say 'yes' when I approached you about volunteering some time with us for the UV?

Scott: I lived in London for 4 years working for a mobile OS company called Symbian so I’ve spent a lot of time in London. While living in London, I even wrote my book in the British Library! So we have a lot in common. It was an intersection of opportunity and history I just couldn’t pass up.

Mia: And what were your first impressions of the project? 

Scott: It was an impactful project with a great vision of where it needed to go. I really wanted to get stuck in and help if I could.

Mia: we loved the short videos you made that crystallised the issues that users encounter with the UV but find hard to describe. Could you share one?

Scott: The most important one is something that happens to many projects that evolve over time: a patchwork of metaphors that accrue. In this case the current UV has at least 4 different ways to page through a document, 3 of which are horizontal and 1 vertical. This just creates a mishmash of conflicting visual prompts for users and simplifying that will go a long way to improve usability.

A screenshot from Scott's video showing multiple navigation areas on the UV

How can you help improve the usability of the Universal Viewer?

We shared Scott's first impressions with the UV Steering Group in September, when he noted that the UV screen had 32 'targets' and 8 areas where functionality had been sprinkled over time, making it hard for users to know where to focus. We'd now to like get wider feedback on future directions.

Scott's made a short video that sets out some of the usability issues in the current layout of the Universal Viewer, and some possible solutions. We think it's a great provocation for discussion by the community! To join in and help with our next steps, you can post on the Universal Viewer Slack (request to join here) or GitHub.

The British National Bibliography (BNB) has resumed publication, following a period of unavailability due to a cyber-attack in 2023.

Having started in 1950, the BNB predates the founding of the British Library, but despite many changes over the years its purpose remains the same: to record the publishing output of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The BNB includes books and periodicals, covering both physical and electronic material. It describes forthcoming items up to sixteen weeks ahead of their publication, so it is essential as a current awareness tool. To date, the BNB contains almost 5.5 million records.

As our ongoing recovery from the cyber-attack continues, our Collection Metadata department have developed a process by which the BNB can be published in formats familiar to its many users. Bibliographic records and summaries will be shared in several ways:

• The database is searchable on the Share Family initiative's BNB Beta platform at https://bl.natbib-lod.org/ (see example record in the image below)
• Regular updates in PDF format will be made freely available to all users. Initially this will be on request
• MARC21 bibliographic records will be supplied directly to commercial customers across the world on a weekly basis

This image includes photographs of the very first BNB entry from 1950 (“Male and female”) and the first one we produced in this new process (“Song of the mysteries”)

Other services, such as Z39.50 access and outputs in other formats, are currently unavailable. We are working towards restoring these, and will provide further information in due course.

The BNB is the first national bibliography to be made available on the Share Family initiative's platform. It is published as linked data, and forms part of an international collaboration of libraries to link and enhance discovery across multiple catalogues and bibliographies.

The resumption of the BNB is the result of adaptations built around long-established collaborative working partnerships, with Bibliographic Data Services (who provide our CIP records) and UK Legal Deposit libraries, who contribute to the Shared Cataloguing Programme.

The International Federation of Library Associations describes bibliographies like the BNB as "a permanent record of the cultural and intellectual output of a nation or country, which is witnessed by its publishing output". We are delighted to be able to resume publication of the BNB, especially as we prepare to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025.

For further information about the BNB, please contact [email protected].

Mark Ellison, Collection Metadata Services Manager