Choosing an Open Source Digital Collection Software Solution:

EprintsDSpaceDrupalOmeka

Joseph Fisher

Database Management Librarian @ UMass Lowell

Digital Commonwealth Executive Committee

Student in the University of Arizona SIRLSGraduate Certificate Program in Digital Information

Management (DigIn) digin.arizona.edu

Objective

Five stages of implementation:

1.Installation (DSpace)2.Branding3.Collection setup4.Item ingest5.User Interface

LAMP

• Linux• Apache• MySQL• PHP/Perl

• Eprints• Omeka• Drupal

• Linux• Tomcat• PostgresSQL• Java• JSP/XSLT

DSpace

• EPrints

• Omeka

• DSpace• Drupal

EPrints

• University of Southampton, UK• First released (v 2.0) 2002• Current version 3.2.7 (v3 2006)• Linux / Windows (Perl)• “EPrints is … the easiest and fastest way

to set up repositories of open access research literature, scientific data, theses, reports and multimedia.”

EPrints : Key Features• software links to the SHERPA/RoMEO database so

authors can easily verify their publisher policies

• LCSH framework included that can be manually expanded

• Supports internal and external authority files or auto-fill from previous database entries.

• Multiple item import and export options

• Thumbnails and preview images of search items

EPrints: Branding

Step 1: /usr/share/eprints3/archives/archivename/cfg/subjectsStep 2:

Step 3: $ bin/import_subjects archivename filename

Step 1: /usr/share/eprints3/archives/archivename/cfg/subjectsStep 2:

Step 3: $ /bin/import_subjects <archive id> -xml

Collection “Division” Setup

EPrints: Item Ingest

EPrints Conclusion• Easy to install, easy to brand, best for a single

subject-specific repository

• Designed for documents, though now supports multiple file types

• Easy embargo, default thumbnail and preview

• Some preservation support – History module for tracking changes, METS export plugin

• V3 does enable easier development of plugins (20-30 listed per year)

EPrints: Challenges

• Not all Dublin Core fields provided (relation, source, contributor, coverage)

• Lack of theme options

• Possible with Views to create custom collection space within a repository?

• Statistics? Permissions? Plugins?

• Documentation not well developed

• EPrints

• Omeka

• DSpace

• Drupal

DSpace• HP-MIT Libraries Alliance (2002)• DuraSpace (2009)• Current version 1.7.1 (2.0 due in Oct.)• Linux / Windows (Java)• “DSpace preserves and enables easy and open

access to all types of digital content including text, images, moving images, mpegs and data sets.”

DSpace : Key Features• Preservation support: Bit integrity checker, format

registry, item history, handles, DuraCloud backup

• Discover faceted seach/browse interface

• Qualified Dublin Core base or MODS thru xmlui

• Embargo capability

• OAI-PMH harvesting, both data and service supplier

• Manakin XMLUI provides flexible though challenging customization capability (multiple custom archives)

Dspace: InstallationPrerequisite Software :

• Linux or Windows• Oracle Java JDK • Maven (Java build tool for stage 1)• Ant (Java build tool for stage 2)• PostgreSQL or Oracle• Tomcat• Perl

JSPUI: Java Server Pages User Int.

XMLUI : Manakin (default theme)

/dspace/config/xmlui.xconf

Stop / Start Tomcat

Kubrick theme

@Mire Mirage Themehttp://demo.dspace.org/xmlui

Changing home page XMLUI/dspace/config/news-xmlui.xml

New Preservation Tool: 1.7

OAI Harvesting

DSpace: Conclusion • Very functional out of the box with easy branding • Increasing preservation management support

(PREMIS support coming in v2.0)• Good documentation, training materials, and

broad support base• Platform is versatile and flexible with ability to

customize collection interfaces • OAI-PMH/ORE/SWORD (postponed)• SOLR-based statistics engine• Metadata registry, option to add new schemas

DSpace: Challenges

• Research Projects: – Discovery faceted search– Embargo– DSpace Statistics– Thumbnails– XMLUI Customization

• EPrints

• Omeka

• DSpace

• Drupal

Drupal• Became Open Source project (2001)

• Current version 7 (Jan. 2011)

• Content Management Framework (CMF)

• LAMP / Windows (PHP)

• “Drupal … allows anyone to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. .”

Drupal: Key Features• Numerous themes• Extensive module availability:– Custom Control Kit (CCK) – allows creation of

fields for input and display– Faceted Search – Image administration– Advanced Search– Views – create customized lists and queries– OAI-PMH module

Drupal: Conclusions• Flexible and versatile but takes time and effort

to put all the pieces together

• Large, varied, and active community of users and developers with good documentation

• Limited only by module availability, of which there are nearly 8,000 (back to version 4.x)

• Challenges: modules are managed individually and the entire structure manually constructed

• EPrints

• Omeka

• DSpace

• Drupal

Omeka

• Center for History and New Media at George Mason University (2008)

• LAMP / Windows (PHP)

• V 1.3.2 (2011)

• “Omeka is a free, flexible, and open source web-publishing platform for the display of library, museum, archives, and scholarly collections and exhibitions.”

Omeka: Key Features• “Designed with non-IT specialists in mind”• “as easy as launching a blog”• Over a dozen themes• Over 30 Plugins:– OAI-PMH Harvester– Exhibit Builder– LC Subject Headings– Comments– Social Bookmarking– Item Relationships

Omeka.net

• Cloud web hosting • Five tiers:–500MB for free with 1 site, 4 plugins, 4

themes– Tier 1 = $49 for 1GB, 2 sites, 6 plugins– Tier 4 = $999 for 25GB, unlimited sites and

plugins

Omeka: Conclusion

• Extremely easy plug and play functionality

• Exhibit plugin enables easy customized collection interfaces

• Immediate metadata field additions

• Limited user and development base, but still new and growing

• Very easy OAI-PMH capability

Why Open Source?

Mission:Open source is a development method for software

that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability,

and an end to

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) http://www.opensource.org/

lower cost,more flexibility,predatory vendor lock in.

Lower Cost !!??!!

• Server• Technical-savvy staff• Programmer?• Time

Choice Criteria• Institutional Repository or Digital Archive• Ease of use• Metadata flexibility• OAI Harvesting• File format support • Multiple collection interface customization• Popularity / Reputation• Size of active community• Development commitment

Insource Outsource

“…two major problems …

First, the core mission of for-profit service providers is not to preserve and provide access to significant digital objects. It is, however, to generate a profit and stay in business….

Second, if an outsourcing trend takes hold and gains momentum, then cultural institutions are at great risk of losing their own value proposition and viability as institutions in the digital age.”

Tyler O. Walters, Katherine Skinner.“Economics, sustainability, and the cooperative model in digital preservation.” Library Hi Tech (28.2) 2010

Librarians of the World Unite!!

Control the means of Production!!

¡Viva la Revolución!

We have nothing to lose!!