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Notes on improvements:
-need to insert lefthand links: demo, documentation, About KB/assumptions/how to contribute page, others?
-pictures/screen shots ok? others?
-diagram revisions in process - should we re-title this "How does DSpace work" - still need to create a Prezi for it (script from footnotes? All About DSpace webinar? other sources?)
--https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSDOC/Functional+Overview
--Stuart tutorials
-hungry for more section added - any other links and references? do we want this section to be a distinct yellow color box?
--semantics of the TOC
-themable and customizable look and feel screen shots - demo site? MIT, URL links in descriptor, Manakin, Manakin extreme
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Chapter 1: What is DSpace?
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What is DSpace?
Example of a DSpace repositoryDSpace home page - using the default user interface (JSP) at the University of Zimbabwe (left) and using the customizable XML User Interface (Manakin) and a customized header at the University of Hawaii (right).
DSpace is an open source repository application that allows you to capture, store, index, preserve and distribute your digital material including text, video, audio and data. DSpace provides a way to manage your materials and publications in a professionally maintained repository to give them greater visibility and accessibility over time.
There are over 1000 digital repositories worldwide using the DSpace application for a variety of digital archiving needs. DSpace is most often used as an institutional repository - a platform that provides access to research output, scholarly publications, library collections, and more.
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The DSpace application has many customizable features and tools for managing digital content, enabling digital preservation and providing accessibility to your materials. As an open source application, there is a very active community of developers, researchers and users worldwide that contribute their expertise to enhance the DSpace application.
What can DSpace be used for?
DSpace can be used to store any type of digital materials, including:
- Documents, such as articles, preprints, working papers, technical reports, conference papers
- Books
- Theses
- Data sets
- Computer programs
- Visualizations, simulations, and other models
- Multimedia publications
- Administrative records
- Published books
- Overlay journals
- Bibliographic datasets
- Images
- Audio files
- Video files
- e-formatted digital library collections
- Learning objects
- Web pages
What are the benefits of using DSpace?
Example of DSpace's built-in organizational structure of Communities and Collections - using the default user interface (JSP) at the University of Zimbabwe (left) and using the customizable XML User Interface (Manakin) at the University of Hawaii (right).
Because DSpace is a turnkey repository application it may be deployed "out“out-of-the-box" box” as an institutional repository. The majority of DSpace users do little to no customization of the application beyond adding local branding. DSpace allows you to:
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- Preserve reusable teaching materials that you can use with course management systems
- Store examples of students' students’ projects (with the students' students’ permission)
- Showcase students' students’ theses (again with permission)
- Keep track of your own publications/bibliography
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How does DSpace
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work?
At a very high level, DSpace looks like this: (need new image) w/o 1-7 details)
Behind the scenes, this is a look at how DSpace works:
How is the DSpace software licensed?
DSpace is free open source software. That means that you can download, use, and modify DSpace for free. The software is shared under a Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license. We have also tried to find good open-source tools to package with the DSpace application, all freely available under an open-source license (although not all the same license as the one for DSpace itself), so that you get a complete system along with the part that we created. Users are also allowed to modify DSpace to meet an organization's specific needs.
What is the open source development model used for DSpace?
The code for DSpace is kept within a source code control system from SourceForge. This system allows code to be added or modified over time, while maintaining a track of all changes and a note of why the change was made and who made it. This assists with the development of the software and ensures the quality and traceability of the code. Any past version of DSpace can be downloaded from the system in an identical state as originally distributed.
Control of the source code repository is delegated to a small group of 'committers'. Only the committers have the ability to change the code and release new versions. The committers work with the wider community of DSpace users to fix bugs and improve the software with new features.
Anyone who wants to is welcome to submit big fixes, new features or feature requests. The can all be done through the SourceForge administrative system SourceForge administrative system. Support is provided on an informal basis via email lists. There are three DSpace email lists:
- General for general questions and announcements
- Technical for technical support
- Development for developers and to discuss development issues
- Web-based interface makes it easy for a submitter to create an archival item by depositing files. DSpace was designed to handle any format from simple text documents to datasets and digital video.
- Data files, also called bitstreams, are organized together into related sets. Each bitstream has a technical format and other technical information. This technical information is kept with bitstreams to assist with preservation over time.
- An item is an "archival atom" consisting of grouped, related content and associated descriptions (metadata). An item's exposed metadata is indexed for browsing and searching. Items are organized into collections of logically-related material.
- A community is the highest level of the DSpace content hierarchy. They correspond to parts of the organization such as departments, labs, research centers or schools.
- DSpace's modular architecture allows for creation of large, multi-disciplinary repositories that ultimately can be expanded across institutional boundaries.
- DSpace is committed to going beyond reliable file preservation to offer functional preservation where files are kept accessible as technology formats, media, and paradigms evolve over time for as many types of files as possible.
- The end-user interface supports browsing and searching the archives. Once an item is located, Web-native formatted files can be displayed in a Web browser while other formats can be downloaded and opened with a suitable application program.
Hungry for more?
Need more general information before moving any further? Below is a list of materials that can help you learn more about DSpace.
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- Minute DSpace Informational Video
- DSpace Specifications Sheet
- DSpace Demo Instance
- Official DSpace Documentation
- https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSPACE/DSpaceResources
- DSpaceResources Wiki Page
- DSpace Under the Hood: video recording, slides DSpace wiki
Comparing/Evaluating Software Options
Repository Planning Guidance
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Know of other resources? Please add them here!
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Information in this section was adapted from The DSpace Course by Stuart Lewis and Chris Yates from the Repositories Support Project. |
Overview
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