This past year has been a bit of a blur for me. Professionally, I’ve been tied up in some large projects at work that we are just starting to see significant benefits from; I’ve just come out of a year-long project to update MarcEdit; completed the second edition of a book I co-author (https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/building-digital-libraries-second-edition); and have been getting more involved with Ohio State’s University governance. Personally, I’m trying not to panic as my oldest becomes a senior and we start thinking about college and life outside of the nest. It’s been a busy, but fruitful period. So, it came as a bit of surprise the other day when I was preparing for a workshop and I realized that in 2019, MarcEdit will turn 20 years old. 2-0. My word…it doesn’t seem like it has been that long. But indeed, this project started when I was an undergraduate at the University of Oregon. It didn’t look like it does today — then it was just a couple assembly libraries that I used to create/edit MARC records with; but this was its genesis. The following year, 2000, is the first year MarcEdit would get a GUI, and become something I shared with the rest of the world…but there it is…20 years.
I keep thinking at some point, I need to take some time and write down some thoughts on what it means to be associated with a project this long or to be fortunate enough to create something that has made a tangible impact on the profession…even if that impact is only a modest one. At some point, I’ll reflect a bit more on all this…and the people that made this work possible; especially in those early days when I was still trying to figure out the whole Windows thing (I still feel bad about all the times Kyle Banerjee would test new builds only to have his Windows registry deleted. He suffered so the community didn’t have to ); and later when the community (especially George Mason and Ian Fairclough) took it upon themselves to organize in a way that I hadn’t been successful in shepherding. I’m not sure projects like this exist for this long without a long-line of people that have either publicly or privately laid the foundation for the work.
But 20 years…I’m thinking that there needs to be cake. I’m not sure where or when yet (I have a couple ideas); but I definitely think this needs to happen…with cake; preferable some kind of red velvet cake. As plans develop, I’ll definitely keep people in the loop. Till then, happy editing.
–tr
Comments
2 responses to “I wonder if there should be cake….2019 and planning for MarcEdit @ 20”
Terry, the longevity and success of this project definitely warrant any type of cake you want!
I’d be interested in reading your thoughts and experiences on staying motivated to continue developing and improving MarcEdit. The number of improvements you’ve made, especially recently, is really impressive. I wonder, though: do you sometimes feel like a hostage to the project, especially as the sole developer? This might be an interesting future blog post.
Congratulations, and thank you for providing this great tool!
Andy,
Interesting question…I’ve been fortunate that working on this project has been a long-term passion, so it rarely feels like work. I think the most difficult part of the project is knowing that if I mess it up, it will have a negative impact on a large number of organizational workflows. When making really large changes, I’m always a little nervous that I’ll (or my automated testing tools) will have missed something.
–tr