IR and DSpace - International Seminar, Dhaka University
1. Md. Zahid Hossain Shoeb
31 December 2009
Institutional digital repository in
Bangladesh - a proposal and content
submission workflow
International Seminar on
Digital Library & Information Support for Nation Building
RC Majumder Arts Auditorium
University of Dhaka
2. 2
Outline
Abstract
Institutional Repository (IR): a Brief Outlook
IR: Bangladesh Context
Planning and Setting up the Repository
IR: Choosing the Platform
ICT Condition in the Universities in Bangladesh
IR:Proposal
Content Submission
Discussion and Conclusion
3. 3
Abstract
Purpose
to describe the procedure of setting up an institutional repository
(IR) with policy formulation and proposal
submission workflow of the contents for any university in
Bangladesh using open source software
Design/Methodology/Approach
A number of popular IR software packages have been compared
System requirements along with the steps involved in uploading
and submitting contents in the IR were also examined
Findings
DSpace preferred most as IR software locally and globally
Systematic storing and access to the research output of a
university will be provided
4. 4
Institutional Repository (IR) (contd.)
Digital Repository
a mechanism for managing and storing reliable digital contents
Types of Digital Repositories
institutional, discipline based, consortia, learning objects
an institutional repository (IR) is a digital archive of the
intellectual product created by the faculty, research staff, and
students of an institution and accessible for end users both
within and outside of the institution with few if any barriers to
access.
5. 5
Institutional Repository (IR) (contd.)
Special Characteristic of Digital Repository
content is deposited whether by the content creator, owner or
third party
the repository architecture manages content as well as metadata
minimum set of basic services e.g. put, get, search, access control
the repository must be sustainable and trusted, well-supported and
well-managed
Why Institutional Digital Repository?
to make visible institution’s scholarly research globally
to gather and collect versatile contents in a single location
to provide open access to institutional research output by self-
archiving or mediated deposit
scholarly communication and sharing
management of digital assets and preservation
6. 6
Institutional Repository (IR)
Open Access (OA)
Open access digital repositories are web sites where authors or
their designated intermediates deposit scholarly publications
for anyone to read freely
Should no subscription or registration required to read papers
within them
The repository must provide open access to its content (unless
there are legal constraints); and
The repository must provide open access to its metadata for
harvesting.
Who benefits from Open Access?
Researchers, institutions, global community.
7. 7
IR: Bangladesh Context (contd.)
Three types of Universities in Bangladesh
The University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC)
can play vital role for formulating policies and implementing
IR
The Directory of Open Access Repositories listed only two
IRs in Bangladesh (>1400 registered worldwide)
IR concept is well-known to library and Information Science
(LIS) Professionals here but technology is not as well
Most of the university library personnel articulate and
recognise the need of institutional repository for their
universities in Bangladesh
8. 8
Planning and Setting the IR
Requirement of Repository
Repository which is to be established should have a purpose
Repositories are also changed as per environment which to be
considered
Way to success: setting up criteria
Intuitional and local conditions and expectations will need to
be considered and accommodated
quantitative/strategic
Costs
Typical Hardware/Software cost, Startup cost
Staff cost/maintenance cost
Benefits of the University
Costs vs Strategic benefits
9. 9
IR: Choosing the Platform
IR: Choosing the Platform
Accumulate a team
Strength, features
Required IR software
Fundamental technical building blocks of an IR
Model, technical aspects when running
Implementation steps
Features of the Product
File formats, metadata standards, interoperability,
search/browse of metadata, full-text search, workflow,
submission for content approval, user authentication and
authorization (back end/front end), customization, Software
Developer/Distributor, Technical support.
10. 10
Functional Overview of DSpace
DSpace: the Open Source Digital Repository Software
Free, open source software
All content types accepted, Dublin Core metadata standard.
Full text search
Customizable web interface. OAI compliant
Workflow process for content submission
Import/export capabilities. Decentralized submission
Extensible through Java API. Built in Java and server-side
Java technologies, including Java Servlets, JSP, Taglets,
Filters, Java Bean Activation Framework, and Java Mail.
Database: PostgreSQL, or SQL database that supports
transactions, such as Oracle, MySQL
11. 11
ICT Condition in the Universities in
Bangladesh
Almost all the universities have adopted updated Information
and Communication Technology (ICT)
ICT is the driving force and most effective tools for
development
Universities in Bangladesh are using ICT in learning, teaching
and disseminating information to increase quality, efficiency
and sustainability
A common IT department is responsible for IT related tasks
Most of the Universities have broadband or dial up internet
connections and equipments with relevant servers and
workstations. Few have VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)
So, almost all the universities have more or less ICT facilities
to cope with the current local and global competition
12. 12
Proposal for Collections to be Included
Content Types
The major content types may be included are:
Publications -
Preprints/Postprints
Datasets
Bibliographic references
(metadata only)
Learning objects
Books and chapters Multimedia and audio-visual
materials
Conference and workshop
papers
Software
Theses and Dissertations Patents
Unpublished reports and
working papers
Special items (depends on
policy)
13. 13
Proposal for Hardware
As almost all the universities have minimum network
facilities and equipments, so only following Hardware is
suggested:
Two Servers (dedicated), 1 for production and another for
backup. Server must be with high and latest configuration like
dual CPU Intel Xeon Server (or with higher processor).
It must have four hard disks (4 x 146 swappable)
high configured primary memory
high cache memory and other higher specification with dual
Intel Gigabit Ethernet controller.
In addition, a high-speed face-up book scanner with Optical
Character Recognition software to digitize print documents
and an MPEG card to convert video recorded documents into
digital form is required.
14. 14
Proposal for Software
As earlier the investigation revealed that DSpace got the
highest preference as IR software, so following software will
be acquired as those are freely available.
DSpace (latest stable version preferred,)
Java
Apache Ant
Apache Tomcat
Maven
PostgreSQL
Operating Systems (Linux Server (Fedora/Debian/Ubantu))
PDF maker software (e.g. Acrobat Writer) is also needed to convert
documents or images to Adobe PDF
15. 15
Other Policies and Legal Issues (Cont.)
Following policies should be accumulated as per global, national and
organizational policies:
Policy Development and Legal Issues
Online materials are governed by government copyright, legal
deposit laws, and publishing contracts
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for IR
Refer to the ownership and rights over work produced and
distributed online
Copyright and Content Licensing
Copyright: offers protection to content creators to control how their
material can be used and distributed
Content License: legal agreements by which content can be
distributed
Content Policies
Author final versions versus Publisher final versions
16. 16
Other Policies and Legal Issues
Collection Policies
How the contents are organized and regulated for the service
Submission Policies and Procedures
Self Archiving/Mediated Deposit
Preservation Policies
Retention Period/Functional Preservation/File Preservation
(backing up)/Withdrawal Policy/Withdrawn Items/Version
Control/Closure Policy
Copyright Issues
Journal articles/Pre-print and Post-print/Book & Book
chapters/Images
Restriction
Thesis/dissertation
36. 36
Discussion and Conclusions
Discussion and Conclusion
primary focus of this paper was to investigate to set up an institutional
repository to identify suitable IR tool that best practices in the
administrative, technical infrastructure, and access to repository
collections
IR may be designed using DSpace
An IR project should be taken and managed centrally
A format-blind IR (based on probable concern university IR policy
and project committee);
A centralized resource that will allow the concerned university to
represent the depth and breadth of its research and teaching to the
local community, state, and world;
A means of preserving the work of researchers in a comprehensive
way; if needed a resource for multidisciplinary archive of
administrative outputs.