Page History

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Goal 1: DSpace will focus on the fundamentals of the modern "Institutional Repository" use case.

Assigned: Tim Donohue

In November 2002, DSpace was initially announced as an out-of-the-box "institutional repository software platform" (see DSpace 1.0 release announcement). While that basic goal has not changed, the common needs and use cases of an "institutional repository" have changed significantly in the last decade or so.  Therefore, this goal is oriented towards striving to retain DSpace's niche while revitalizing it to meet current and future use cases associated with the modern repository platform.

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Goal 2: DSpace will be "lean", with agility and flexibility as primary goals

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Since its initial release in 2002, numerous features, configurations and options have been added to the DSpace codebase in an ongoing effort to keep up with the changing needs of its user base. While many of these changes have helped us to achieve new use cases, in some instances they have also complicated the codebase and made setup and upgrades more complex. Therefore, this goal is oriented towards cleaning up (and simplifying) the codebase and its configuration options, while also working towards avoiding duplication (of code and development efforts). We feel DSpace can be a "leaner" platform, which will allow the codebase to better adapt to the needs of the future and simplify its maintenance, setup and upgrade processes.

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Goal 3: DSpace can be "extended" (think plugins) or have "hooks" (integration points) to complimentary services/tools

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There will obviously be limitations to what DSpace can and should do, so we need to have ways to support plugins/addons/extensions to that core functionality. Not all users of DSpace will need to achieve the same set of Use Cases, so we will need to define which are "core" and which would be better implemented as plugins/extensions (either centrally supported or third-party supported).

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Goal 4: DSpace will be designed in such a way that it can be easily/quickly configured to integrate with new & future tools/services in the larger digital scholarship "ecosystem"

Assigned: Bram Luyten

In order to continue to play a key role in the larger digital scholarship "ecosystem", DSpace must provide ways to both share and consume data/content from external services. We should strive to make all information in DSpace "shareable", and also ease the process of adding information to DSpace by providing Administrators with tools to consume data from other locations.

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Goal 5: DSpace will support low-cost, hosted solutions and deployments (by featuring an easy, "just works" setup)

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DSpace should be easy to install without requiring Java development expertise, to configure without requiring server access, and to monitor from within the application. Basic configuration options, including the look and feel and selecting themes should be accessible from within the DSpace online administration area.

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