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The back-end user interface for the Resource Library, which allows contributors to post, tag, and annotate resources, was recently released. Nearly 1000 resources have been added to the site's database so far. The user-facing view is in the late stages of development and testing, and we anticipate it will be released to the public in February 2020. The Resource Library has been developed as open source software available on our project's Github organization using the WordPress framework. As a by-product of implementing this tool, we have also created an evolving pattern library of accessible, reusable web user interface components, called Pinecone, which will help support the development of other web applications in the Kit, such as the Map/Index tool and the Labour Platform Hub.
Directory/Map/Index
We have recently started to design and develop a directory, map, and index of the cooperative digital economy, which will provide researchers, cooperatives, and activities with location-based, contextually-appropriate information about the platform cooperative movement, sourced directly from the community. During this period, we held a series of informal co-design discussions with the community to determine needs and challenges for the Directory. One insight we learned from this was that many community members are interested in using a tool like this to better support cross-cooperative networking and mutual support. In addition to gathering an initial set of goals and features for the Directory, we researched prospective open source technologies for building geospatial user interfaces, and recruited an experienced web cartography developer to join our team. We anticipate a first launch of the Directory in Spring 2020.