Web Sites

The DSpace.org information Web site

A general information page giving a high-level overview of what DSpace is, and some ideas and pointers for implementing DSpace in your organisation.

The DSpace Wiki

Where you are right now!

A Wiki is a dynamic Web site that can easily be edited by anyone (yes, anyone). This makes it a great collaboration tool. The DSpace Wiki contains up-to-the-minute technical information about the DSpace platform, and what people around the world are doing with DSpace. If you're working with DSpace, please post what you're doing to the Wiki! You can also find out if others are doing or have done similar work!

Particularly useful pages on the Wiki:

• Home – Most of the latest and greatest information can be found directly off the homepage. Check out the "DSpace Community" section for general information, the "Running DSpace" section for how to get started, and the "Developers" section for latest Developer news and a current roadmap.
• Code Contribution Guidelines – An evolving guide to developing code and documentation for contributing back to the DSpace community
• How to Contribute to DSpace – Find out how to contribute to and participate in DSpace
• LessonsLearned – Learn from other DSpace teams and share lessons you learned about building a DSpace service.

DSpace Source Code / Downloads

• The current release of DSpace may be downloaded from our DSpace SourceForge project

• You may also checkout the source code via Subversion (SVN) from our source code repository. This code repository is also browseable via the web.
  • Stable versions of DSpace can be found under Tags in SVN
  • The Unstable, latest code is on Trunk in SVN
  • NOTE: if you're going to be developing with DSpace, we recommend you access the DSpace code using Subversion (see Code Contribution Guidelines).

DSpace Issue Tracking, Feature Requests, and Patches

The DSpace Jira system tracks bugs, feature requests and patches for current and future versions of DSpace. It also permits voting on those issues you are interested in, and registering to receive updates - if you create yourself an account.

There are currently two main sections in DSpace Jira:

• DSpace 1.x section - This is for reporting of any bugs, feature requests or patches within any of the DSpace 1.x versions.
• DSpace 2.x section - This section is being used by the DSpace+2.0 development team to track issues or feature requests that have come up in their work.

DSpace Community Sandbox

We maintain a community sandbox in our SVN at http://scm.dspace.org/svn/repo/sandbox/

Instructions on Usage of Sandbox

Generally, the rules are such...

• If you want commit rights or to add your own project code, email the developers list (dspace-devel) and someone will work to give you access. (You will only be given commit rights to your new project's SVN directory).
• Any projects can be added here (once you are given access), but you must maintain your own project code. The Committers will not maintain your code for you, unless it should become part of out-of-the-box DSpace (see Code Contribution Guidelines).
• Ask about project structure etc, we are working to try to organize the space so it stays clean.
• Obsolete, out-of-date or unmaintained projects may be removed at the Committers discretion. We will attempt to notify you before your project would be removed (so that you can pull down a final copy of your code, as necessary).

Project Structure of Sandbox Area

• Addon/Module Projects - Projects that are designed to "add on" to dspace without altering core libraries. Some of these may be a "work in progress", and others may be "stable" or "semi-stable"
• Prototype Projects - Prototypes are usually branches of the core codebase, where experimental development of the core codebase can happen. Oftentimes these projects are unstable or a work-in-progress. If they become widely accepted and stable, they will usually be moved to either the Addon/Module Projects or the Primary Codebase (Trunk)

Documentation and Guides

DSpace System Documentation

Standard System Documentation

DSpace System Documentation is included with each DSpace download. Look in the /dspace/docs/ folder once you unzip the download. More recent documentation can also be accessed online or downloaded in PDF format.

Other formats and translations

• Printable PDF of DSpace System Docs
  • DSpace 1.4.1 beta 1 DSpaceSysDoc141beta1.pdf contributed by Claudia Jürgen UBDO
  • DSpace 1.3.2: DSpaceSysDoc1.3.2.pdf contributed by Gabriela Montoya of UCSD
  • DSpace 1.2.1: DSpaceSysDoc1.2.1-2.pdf contributed by Gabriela Montoya of UCSD
• Japanese
  • DSpace 1.5
    DSpace System Documentation in Japanese contributed by the National Diet Library in Japan (translation by Mr. Akito Fujita)
  • DSpace 1.3.2 DSpace System Documentation in Japanese contributed by NII in Japan
  • DSpace 1.1.1 DSpace System Documentation in Japanese contributed by NII in Japan
• Spanish
  • DSpace 1.5 Instaling DSpace 1.5 in Centos 5 contributed by Juan Carlos Mardones Koning in Chile

Guides

Repository Planning

• LEADIRS Creating an Institutional Repository
• Creating a Service Model
• Project Planning Matrix 

Installing DSpace

• Start with the DSpace System Documentation.
• Platform and distribution-specific tips and guides can be found on the DSpace Installation page.

Customizing DSpace

• XMLUI Customization:
  • Making DSpace XMLUI Your Own - Concentrates on using Maven to build Overlays in the XMLUI (Manakin). Also has very basic examples for JSPUI. Based on DSpace 1.6.x.
  • Learning to Use Manakin (XMLUI) - Overview of how to use Manakin and how it works. Based on DSpace 1.5, but also valid for 1.6.
  • Introduction Manakin (XMLUI)
• General Tips:
  • How-To Guides has a list of all wiki pages which provide "how-to" hints for changing/customizing your DSpace install.
  • Build Cookbook has examples of adding your local changes to a DSpace distribution.
  • The DSpace Course has good examples of using and customizing DSpace 1.5.x. As the customizations involve using Maven, this course is also still mostly valid for many current DSpace versions (1.6 and 1.7).
  • DSpace how-to guide: tips and tricks for managing common DSpace chores (DSpace version 1.4.2 and Manakin 1.1) by Tim Donohue, Scott Phillips and Dorothea Salo - This short booklet is intended to introduce the common, non-obvious customization-related tasks for newcomers to DSpace administration. It has been written against the version 1.4.x of DSpace (1.4.2 specifically) and Manakin 1.x (1.1 specifically) . It's meant to be usable across all platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac). This booklet was a handout from the "Making DSpace Your Own" tutorial from JCDL 2007 taught by Tim Donohue and Scott Phillips. The full presentations and materials from this tutorial are also available from the DSpace Presentations page. Spanish translation by the University of León
  • DSpace 1.4.1 Customization (by Claudia Jürgen) available at Eldorado, the institutional repository of the University of Dortmund. This is the English translation of a customization presentation held at the DSpace Workshop in Kassel (Germany) March 07. The presentation gives an overview to basic customization and configuration techniques and possibilities of DSpace 1.4.1. Thanx to Chris Yates of The University of Wales, Aberystwyth for proofreading it.
  • DSpace how-to guide: tips and tricks for managing common DSpace chores (DSpace version 1.3.2) by Dorothea Salo and Tim Donohue, also available at http://hdl.handle.net/1920/1045 - This short booklet is intended to introduce the common, non-obvious customization-related tasks for newcomers to DSpace administration. It has been written against the current stable version 1.3.2 of DSpace. It's meant to be usable across all platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac). For even more information, the slides from their "Making DSpace Your Own" Tutorial at JCDL 2006 are available on the DSpace Presentations page. Spanish translation by the University of León

Developing with DSpace

• An overall reference for developing code with DSpace (and creating patches) is available on the Developer Guidelines and Tools page.
• Code Contribution Guidelines - How to get your code accepted into DSpace.

Documentation for New DSpace Administrators

• Intro to DSpace (August 19, 2009) - written by Cameron Kainerstorfer and Heather Perkins (both of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)
• Instructions for New Admin - This is a simple guide to print off for people who will start uploading documents to your instance of DSpace, by Shawna Sadler.

Related Readings

• Lessons learned building an Institutional Repository with DSpace

Mailing Lists

English Lists

There are several public DSpace mailing lists you can join, depending on what your particular interest is.

dspace-general

General discussion about the DSpace platform, and setting up and running a DSpace service. It is open to all DSpace users to ask questions, share news, and spark discussion about DSpace with people managing other DSpace sites.

• Sign up for dspace-general
• View or search archive
• Search all lists at once

dspace-tech

Technical discussion about the DSpace platform. If you have a technical query, or are having problems getting DSpace up and running, this is the place to go (refer to the Troubleshoot an error page for additional help and suggestions). If you are technically savvy, and would like to contribute by helping out those in need, please join!

• Sign up for dspace-tech
• View or search archive
• Search all lists at once

dspace-devel
People working on the DSpace code hang out here.

• Sign up for dspace-devel
• View or search archive
• Search all lists at once

dspace-changelog
This is for "hardcore" developers only. This listserv reports the latest SVN commits, allowing developers to keep in touch with the latest DSpace code changes.

• Sign up for dspace-changelog
• View list archive
• Search this list (or others)

Non-English Lists

While we hope that the community works together by using the above lists, some mailing lists enabling non-English speakers to participate are emerging. We strongly encourage people on those lists who speak English to liaise between them.

• Japanese (日本語) - The National Institute of Informatics runs an email list for institutional repositories, including DSpace. Contact co5 (at) nii.ac.jp for further information.
• Spanish - DSpace Spanish User Group, Gude

IRC channel

There are two dedicated DSpace IRC (internet relay chat) channels (i.e. "rooms") on the irc.freenode.net server:

• #dspace - all DSpace discussions and live Q & A
• #duraspace - for DSpace Committer/Developer meetings, and wider DuraSpace community discussions

If you do not have access to an IRC client, or are new to IRC, the following web interface is very easy way to get started:

• http://webchat.freenode.net/
  • Enter in a nickname (of your choice, e.g. firstName_lastName)
  • Enter in one of the IRC channels above (e.g. "#dspace" or "#duraspace")
  • Leave the "Auth to Services" setting unchecked.

For a list of IRC client software, see:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_Relay_Chat_clients

Many current Instant Messaging (IM) clients also support IRC. Here's a list of widely used software you can install that will allow you to connect to IRC:

• Pidgin (supports IM & IRC) - How to Connect to IRC with Pidgin
• Adium (Mac only, supports IM & IRC) - Note: only version 1.4 or above supports IRC
• Trillian (supports IM & IRC)
• Colloquy (Mac only, supports IRC)