Customizing Open-Source Digital Collections: What We Need, What We Want, and What We Can Afford

After 15 years of providing access to our digital collections through CONTENTdm, the University of Louisville Libraries changed direction, and migrated to Hyku, a self-hosted open-source digital repository. This article details the complexities of customizing an open-source repository, offering lessons on balancing sustainability via standardization with the costs of developing new code to accommodate desired features. The authors explore factors in deciding to create a Hyku instance and what we learned in the implementation process. Emphasizing the customizations applied, the article illustrates our unexpected detours and necessary considerations to get to “done.” This narrative serves as a resource for institutions considering similar transitions.