Google Summer of Code 2006
Google is sponsoring the Summer of Code, a program designed to introduce students to the world of Open Source Software Development. In the second year of the program, OhioLINK is pleased to participate again as a mentoring organization, furthering the development of information technology in academic libraries in Ohio and around the world. This page outlines ideas for projects; take a look, augment or add your own (feel free to read the project documentation through the 'Wiki' link above and suggest other ideas). The application to participate will be on Google's website starting May 1, 2006. Questions about the program? Take a look at Google's participant FAQ. Questions about the suggested projects or about OhioLINK? Contact Peter Murray.
The Ohio Library and Information Network, OhioLINK, is a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. OhioLINK's membership includes 17 public universities, 23 community/technical colleges, 44 private colleges and the State Library of Ohio. Funded by the Ohio Board of Regents, it serves more than 600,000 students, faculty, and staff at these 85 institutions with a consolidated catalog of library items across the state, a physical transport service that delivers those items to users within 48 hours, and cooperative buying of journals and research databases.
OhioLINK-generated Ideas
See the ProjectIdeas page for suggestions based on things we are working on now. Feel free to discuss these with us, or let us know privately if there is another project you'd like to work on that is within the scope of providing services to users of libraries in higher education.
Coding Languages, Standards and Tools
Depending on the particular application, Perl or Java is the language of choice for particular applications. (Languages are listed on the ProjectIdeas page when it is strongly encouraged that an implementation use one language over all others.) In general, proposals that use a language already supported at OhioLINK will be viewed more favorably than those that do not.
OhioLINK does not have strict coding standards. We expect proper internal documentation and comments, including correctly formatted JavaDocs? where appropriate, following typical coding conventions.
We use Eclipse, NetBeans, and good ol' vi as development environments. Your tastes may vary.
Source Code Repository
OhioLINK runs a Subversion source code repository for our projects. You may use that for your Summer of Code project, or you may use another repository. Be sure to read Google's answer to the question of where coding must be done, though, if you choose to use another repository.
Proposal Format
Google has provided some suggestions on writing your application:
"24. What should an application look like? Your application should include the following: your project proposal, why you'd like to execute on this particular project, and the reason you're the best individual to do so. Your proposal should also include details of your academic, industry, and/or open source development experience, and other details as you see fit. An explanation of your development methodology is a good idea, as well. Note that there is a word limit to proposals, so be prepared to supplement your proposal text with links to an external site. However, you should still plan to provide an abstract of your proposal, including a brief list of deliverables, via the Summer of Code site to ensure that your work receives sufficient review; terse applications tend to look like incomplete applications during the review process." http://code.google.com/soc/studentfaq.html#24
We suggest a proposal format that mirrors that of the Perl and Python foundations:
Name
Where can we contact you?
Project Title
Synopsis
A short description.
Benefits to the OhioLINK and higher education community
Deliverables
Quantifiable results e.g. "Improve X modules in ways Y and Z" or "Add capability X to function Y"
Project Details
A more detailed description. You can't be too detailed.
Project Schedule
How long do you think the project will take? (No longer than three months, of course.) What are the milestones?
Bio
Who are you? What makes you the best person to work on this project?
Remember that all proposals must be submitted through the Google Summer of Code website to be counted as part of Google's program. If you correspond with us about an idea and we think you intend to apply to the Summer of Code program, we'll remind you that your proposal must be submitted through Google's website from May 1st to May 8th, and we cannot take responsibility for your submission if you don't follow Google's processes. Don't be too concerned if the technical details are not all worked out; if your proposal is selected we can do that in the early days of the project. But remember that all Summer of Code projects should be large enough for you to work on full time for almost three months.
