CSU Outsources to Australia

The CSU has contracted with an Australian firm named HarvestRoad to provide parts of the California State University (CSU) Digital Marketplace. The CRN article describes the work as:

• "the design and development of prototypes that are informed and tested by the needs and requirements of students, faculty, librarians, and disabled students services throughout the CSU system." and
• "expanding the range and reach of digital collections accessed through a federated search service to provide users greater choice of content; integrating the federated search service into a variety of application environments that deliver content into the user’s environment of choice; systematically collecting end user requirements through use case development and focus groups with faculty, students, librarians and disability student services officers; and extending requirements gathering outside the CSU system"

That sounds like marketing-speak for:

• doing end user requirement analysis and testing
• expanding online/digital material and making it easier to find and use

California University goes with Aussie developer (CRN Australia)
HarvestRoad press release
CSU Digital Marketplace page at Chancellor's Office

Was sending California taxpayer dollars to Utah insufficiently exotic?