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Islandora is an open source framework developed by the University of Prince Edward Island's Robertson Library since 2006. It leverages both the expertise of PHP/Java/Python developers and of librarians and other information-professionals. Islandora is committed to utilizing open standards for data description and access, as well as high-standards for data stewardship and security over time. Islandora makes it possible to create, edit, discover, view, and manage repository assets. The system strives to strike a balance between extensibility and usability, by providing out-of-the box support for collections, while maintaining an architecture that lends itself to customization to other software and workflows. The heart of Islandora's Islandora’s data stewardship model is Fedora - if you are a Fedora user, you are still capable of accessing and manipulating objects in Islandora's Islandora’s underlying Fedora as you would in any Fedora installation. Special consideration for Fedora users is taken in Chapter 7 - Customizing Islandora.
The Islandora project combines and harnesses the power of the Drupal content management system and the FedoraCommons Repository software to create a robust digital asset management system that can be used to meet the short and long-term collaborative requirements of digital data stewardship. More information about Islandora's Islandora’s core technologies is provided in this introductory chapter.
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Islandora also represents a community-based approach to integrating robust open source software projects together. The resulting toolkit empowers users to create bespoke solutions and designs that accommodate the integration of software solutions that you already use. Additional open source applications that provide flexibility and extensibility are added to this core stack to create "Solution “Solution Packs."”
Solution Packs reflect best-practice workflows emerging as a result of the community's community’s experience dealing with particular types of data, such as large-format images, maps, books, magazines, and individual research articles. Solution packs combine pre-chosen Content Models, Metadata Forms, and Viewers based on the experience of the Islandora community. Solution packs may be customized to meet the needs of your collection and institution, or used out of the box to create collections. More information about installing and using Islandora Solution Packs is provided later on in this guide. Solution Packs often require additional applications to be installed and configured. An overview of common dependencies is provided in the Dependencies section of Chapter 5 - Islandora Solution Packs.
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Flexibility: Unlike closed or proprietary software solutions, Islandora code is transparent - the system's system’s premise is that institutions will have different reasons for using Islandora, and that their data and workflows will be different. For that reason, Islandora is built to be modified and extended. To learn more about developing Islandora, see Chapter 15: Islandora Community (Developing Islandora).
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Islandora's Islandora’s core technologies are FedoraCommons repository software, Drupal, and Solr. FedoraCommons Repository Software lends itself to data stewardship via a unique content and relationship modeling framework that preserves the integrity of collections and can be modified to manage any digital asset. This means that Fedora collections are uniquely persistent, no matter what new software lurks around the corner. In the Islandora system, Drupal acts as an interaction layer atop Fedora, enabling users to discover, view, and manage Fedora objects. Drupal is a very popular, module-based system that understands Islandora as a suite of modules. Through Drupal, Islandora users can create content together, and use social-networking to enrich Fedora content.
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