Mirador Community Updates
Enrique Diaz
Dear Colleagues,
Happy spring! It’s my pleasure to share with you the great work recently underway in the Mirador viewer community.
Mirador Core Update
Mirador 3 leverages React, an open-source front-end JavaScript library optimally suited for building component-based user interfaces. As with many projects relying on community contributions, maintaining currency after a major release can be challenging. We’ve reached a point where the community is no longer able to extend or build new functionality in Mirador without first implementing critical updates to React. Our pressing need, therefore, is to bring React and corresponding dependencies up-to-date. This is a formidable task, as the complexity of the work has increased over time. For example, the extant test suite, Enzyme, is deprecated for higher versions of React and needs to be rewritten to the React Testing Library. And, the collection of elements generating the interface layer, Material UI, also requires substantive updates.
I include this detail to underscore the value of the commitment made by developers at Stanford and Harvard to take this on. A focused engagement of work began in February to address critical fixes crucial to a successful update of the React library. As of the writing of this email, most tests have been updated. And, once the path is clear to address UI updates, members of the community, including from Universität Leipzig, have expressed their intent to significantly support that work.
Community Engagement
In the interest of encouraging community contributions and engagement, members of Harvard’s Library Technology Services team have begun assessing and responding to outstanding questions and issues; participating in discussions; reviewing, updating or adding documentation to the Github repository; developing ways to cultivate a strong contributor presence; and supporting maintainers. Each of these efforts are identified, proposed, discussed, and consensus-approved during Mirador’s semi-weekly community calls hosted by Stanford, and we encourage anyone reading this to join the conversation, either at those calls or in the #mirador channel of the IIIF Slack workspace. Information about all points of contact can be found on the Project Mirador site.
The Road Ahead
There is more work to be done once the React updates are complete. The work to update tests continues and Mirador plugins, which provide significant value to cultural heritage and academic institutions will need to be updated to work harmoniously with the new version of React. It’s our sincere expectation that, with strengthened community engagement and an updated codebase, we’ll find opportunities to collaborate with others, such as through the IIIF Commons and the community at large, to move forward together.
In the meantime, much appreciation and gratitude go to the developers and community members who have been instrumental in this undertaking so far: at Stanford, Chris Beer and Marlo Longley and, at Harvard, Phil Plencner and Sara Rubinow. I warmly invite anyone reading this with an interest in Mirador to join the conversation! Please follow the links shared above to learn more or visit the GitHub repository’s milestones page to see where the work currently stands. I also welcome you to write to me directly here or on Slack to discuss ways you can contribute.
Sincerely,
Software Engineering Manager
Harvard University Library Technology Services