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What

...

is

...

Islandora?

...

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 data
...
stewardship
...
model
...
is
...
Fedora
...
-
...
if
...
you
...
are
...
a
...
Fedora
...
user,
...
you
...
are
...
still
...
capable
...
of
...
accessing
...
and
...
manipulating
...
objects
...
in
...
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 core
...
technologies
...
is
...
provided
...
in
...
this
...
introductory
...
chapter.
...
A
...
list
...
of
...
current
...
installations
...
of
...
Islandora
...
is
...
available
...
at
...
http://islandora.ca
...
.
...
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 Packs.
...
”

What are Solution Packs?

Solution Packs reflect best-practice

...

workflows

...

emerging

...

as

...

a

...

result

...

of

...

the

...

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

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

.

...

Currently

...

Supported

...

Solution

...

Packs:

...

Simple

...

Image

...

Solution

...

Pack

...

Large

...

Image

...

Solution

...

Pack

...

PDF

...

Solution

...

Pack

...

Audio

...

Solution

...

Pack

...

Books

...

Solution

...

Pack

...

An

...

overview

...

of

...

these

...

solution

...

packs

...

is

...

provided

...

in

...

Chapter

...

5:

...

Islandora

...

Solution

...

Packs.

...

What

...

need

...

does

...

Islandora

...

address?

...

Islandora
...
is
...
a
...
response
...
to
...
the
...
necessity
...
of
...
integrating
...
both
...
born-digital
...
and
...
digitized
...
materials
...
into
...
collections,
...
and
...
it
...
addresses
...
the
...
need
...
for
...
ever-more
...
sophisticated
...
publishing
...
and
...
preservation
...
platforms
...
to
...
support
...
research
...
and
...
knowledge
...
formation.
...
In
...
particular,
...
Islandora
...
addresses
...
the
...
following
...
needs:
...

Stewardship:
...
Islandora
...
emerges
...
out
...
of
...
an
...
awareness
...
of
...
the
...
massive
...
digitization
...
of
...
data,
...
and
...
the
...
creation
...
of
...
born-digital
...
materials
...
that
...
require
...
long-term
...
stewardship,
...
and
...
the
...
current
...
difficulties
...
inherent
...
in
...
providing
...
this
...
stewardship.
...
As
...
software
...
continues
...
to
...
grow
...
and
...
evolve,
...
Islandora
...
stores
...
important
...
data
...
assets
...
securely
...
and
...
in
...
a
...
manner
...
that
...
preserves
...
the
...
accessibility
...
and
...
understanding
...
of
...
digital
...
assets.
...

Collaboration:
...
Increasingly,
...
knowledge
...
is
...
created
...
and
...
maintained
...
online
...
via
...
active
...
communities
...
of
...
contributors
...
who
...
collaboratively
...
create,
...
edit,
...
review,
...
and
...
catalog
...
information
...
assets.
...
Islandora
...
emerges
...
out
...
of
...
the
...
need
...
for
...
tools
...
that
...
facilitate
...
collaboration
...
and
...
community
...
surrounding
...
information
...
in
...
a
...
digital
...
age.
...

Access:
...
While
...
the
...
production
...
of
...
information
...
has
...
increased
...
exponentially
...
over
...
the
...
last
...
fifteen
...
years,
...
this
...
information
...
is
...
often
...
difficult
...
to
...
access
...
because
...
it
...
is
...
not
...
cataloged
...
and
...
stored
...
in
...
a
...
way
...
that
...
optimizes
...
retrieval.
...
For
...
that
...
reason,
...
Islandora
...
is
...
committed
...
to
...
open
...
standards
...
for
...
information
...
sharing
...
and
...
transferring.
...
Moreover,
...
Islandora
...
attempts
...
to
...
increase
...
the
...
agency
...
of
...
information
...
specialists,
...
researchers,
...
and
...
librarians,
...
by
...
creating
...
tools
...
that
...
allow
...
for
...
better
...
data
...
management
...
and
...
knowledge
...
creation.
...
Finally,
...
Islandora
...
is
...
engaged
...
with
...
configurable
...
security
...
for
...
data
...
assets,
...
allowing
...
for
...
granular
...
control
...
of
...
access
...
to
...
data.
...

Flexibility:
...
Unlike
...
closed
...
or
...
proprietary
...
software
...
solutions,
...
Islandora
...
code
...
is
...
transparent
...
-
...
the
...
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).
...

Info
Islandora sites are not simple websites! By utilizing Fedora, sites running Islandora provide the security and sustainability of a more flexible and complex system than what is governed in a series of HTML pages or a regular relational database.

Islandora Core Technologies

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.

Solr represents an emerging, and important third application used in Islandora – bringing lightning-fast searching of the Fedora database, including full-text searching of any attached documents. Solr also allows for results to be refined, using faceting techniques to engage users in a process of discovery and exploration.

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Old Version 1

New Version 2

Key

What

is

Islandora?

What are Solution Packs?

What

need

does

Islandora

address?

Islandora Core Technologies