Rebecca Hargrave Malamud was a founding member of Open Library and served as the lead designer when the project was in Beta. The primary goal of this "startup" phase was the acquisition of bibliographic data. The founding team soundly accomplished their goals and helped the project reach its next phase and secure additional funding. In addition to leading the team through UI design, Ms. Malamud wrote technical documentation that gained considerable attention for the project and helped with the transition of the current team.