KnowledgeBase is a framework designed to help anyone, regardless of their technical background, become immediately productive with DuraSpace technologies. The focus of the initial content will be how to set up and run a repository using either DSpace or Fedora. KnowledgeBase is not a duplication or replacement for the official software documentation, but rather it is intended to be a supplemental resource, including dynamic content delivered through a variety of vehicles (text guide, screencasts, webinar recordings, etc.).
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Do you know the basics about DSpace? Then dive right into KnowledgeBase to get started.
Not quite ready for the plunge? Get your feet wet by learning a bit more about DSpace.
Table of Contents:
Section 1: Introduction to DSpace
What is DSpace
- What is DSpace
- What can DSpace be used for
- What are the benefits of using DSpace
- How does DSpace work
License and Development
- How is the DSpace software licensed and what does this allow you to do
- What is the open source development model used by DSpace
How to Get Help
- What help is available from the DSpace community
- What help is available as part of the DSpace software
- How to deal with Internal Server Errors produced by the DSpace system
- What help is available from service providers
Section 2: Installation & Set-Up
Getting Started with DSpace
- What is the role of the repository administrator and the technical staff in configuring, managing and maintaining the repository
- How to install DSpace for the First Time
- Tips for installation
Overview of DSpace Interface Options (XMLUI, JSPUI, OAI, SWORD, LNI)
- What to choose and how to make a decision
High-Level Architecture Overview of DSpace Directories and Storage
- What is the DSpace application architecture
- What is the DSpace server architecture
- What and when should my content be backed up within DSpace
DSpace Configuration
- How to configure the submission interface via input-forms.xml
- How to configure Emails/Notifications & Subscriptions
- How to enable and configure RSS feeds
- How to configure nightly scripts (filter media/index-all)
Upgrading DSpace
- How does DSpace use version numbers
- What is the upgrade path
- How to upgrade a DSpace installation from version X.X. to X.Y.
Section 3: User Interface Basics
Understanding and Creating Communities & Collections
- What is a repository structure
- What is a community
- What is a collection
- View example structures that are used in typical DSpace repositories
- Create a community
- Create a collection
Items in DSpace
- What is and what makes up a DSpace item
- What is a bundle and bitstream
- How does the standard submission interface work
- What is the item submission workflow
- Submit an item into a DSpace repository
- What is the purpose of metadata
- How does DSpace encode and store metadata
- How does the metadata registry work
- How do you edit a metadata schema
- Add a new term to an existing metadata schema
Adding Users and Groups
- Why are user accounts required and how to create an account
- What is a group and how is it created
- How to make a user account a DSpace Administrator
- Create an initial administrative user
DSpace Access Controls and Rights
Browsing & Searching DSpace
Editing your DSpace Profile
Section 4: DSpace Administration
User Management and Authentication Options
- Understand the concepts of authentication and authorization
- Understand user and group management in DSpace
- Add and remove users from groups
- Have a high level understanding of some advance authentication options
Managing Content:
- Administration options for communities, collections and items
- Changing rights/permissions on a community, collection and item
- Withdrawing, deleting and editing items
- "Mapping" / Linking Items to multiple Collections/Communities
- Editing or Deleting Communities or Collections
- Batch Metadata Editing
- Metadata Authority Control
- Adding a Custom Metadata Schema or Custom Metadata Fields
Understand which part of the submission process can be customised
Understand about input-forms.xml specifically:
Field Definitions
Field Types
Have modified the DSpace submission process
RSS Feeds, Alerts and News
Know how the RSS feeds work in DSpace
Be able to set up and understand email alerts
Know how to edit the news on the front page
Have edited the news on the front page
SP -Improving your Indexing by Google / Google Scholar / Other Search Engines
SP -Enabling Optional Features:
Intro to Handle Server?
Identifiers
Understand what persistent identifiers are, how they work and the benefits to using them in a DSpace repository environment
Understand what a handle is – the persistent identifier currently used in DSpace
Have an overview of how to apply for a handle
Have seen a handle in use
Understand how to set up the handle server
Item Submission Workflows
Understand the purpose of workflows
Be able to describe the three different workflows available in DSpace and when each might be used
Be able to create, modify or remove a workflow step from a collection
Have created a workflow, submitted an item into the collection with the workflow, and completed the
workflow.
SP -Managing DSpace Access Statistics
DSpace Statistics and Google Analytics
Know what statistics DSpace can provide
Know how the statistics are collected
How to make the statistics publicly available
Understand what Google Analytics is and some of the statistics it can provide
NP - Section 5: Customization
SP -Look and Feel Customization
Understand the different user interfaces to the DSpace software
Understand the different levels of customisation that can be done to the DSpace interface
Have customised the JSPUI interface of DSpace
Understand which part of the submission process can be customised
Understand about input-forms.xml specifically:
Field Definitions
Field Types
Have modified the DSpace submission process
SP -Language Customization
Understand what Localization (l10n) & Internationalization (i18n) are
Understand how i18n & l10n fits in with DSpace
Understand what can be customised in DSpace
Messages File
Emails
News
SP -Basic Intro to XMLUI Themes
Making DSpace XMLUI Your Own (2009 presentation by Tim)
Learning to Use Manakin (2007 presentation by Scott Phillips)
Various XMLUI How-Tos at: XMLUI How To Guides. Ones most appropriate for an "intro to XMLUI" include:
Introduction Manakin (XMLUI)
Manakin theme tutorial
Create a new theme (Manakin)
Install a theme (Manakin)
Manakin Themes and Recipes
Create a new aspect (Manakin)
Install an Aspect (Manakin)
SP -Adding "Discovery" (faceted browsing/searching)
SP -Enabling Embargoing of content in Submission process
SP -Enabling Creative Commons Licensing options in Submission process
SP -Enabling OAI-PMH / SWORD / LNI (may need separate webinars)
SWORD Basics
Understand what SWORD is
Know what SWORD could be used for
Know how SWORD works with DSpace
NP -Section 6: Advanced Features
SP -Advanced Administration Tasks
SP -Exporting/Importing bulk content (ADD SLIDES / RECORDING FROM SPARC 2009)
Import and Export
Know how the batch import and export facility works in DSpace
Be able to create a DSpace import package
Be able to export an item from DSpace
SP -Backing up your DSpace instance
SP -Migrating / Moving from one server to another
SP -Curation Tasks
SP -Hooking DSpace up to your local Institution Authentication (LDAP, Shibboleth, etc)
Configuring LDAP
Understand how DSpace uses LDAP for authentication
Be able to configure a DSpace instance to authenticate against an LDAP server
Know which tools to use and how to use them in order to test LDAP connection issues
SP -Using the Checksum Checker (why/how)
SP -Harvesting Content from an external source via OAI-PMH or OAI-ORE
SP -Using DSpace with DuraCloud?
WORKFLOW
Internal
Who's involved?
-DuraSpace staff activity monitor/s who will find volunteers and 'lightly' monitor community volunteers/contributors
-DuraSpace staff to provide post-production assistance and other technical questions
What are the activities?
-activity monitor will recruit, train and encourage community contributions
-monitor's role is to recruit contributions and to ensure that community editors are reviewing contributions regularly
- activity monitor receives emails when anyone adds/changes content in KB
- activity monitor checks in periodically (1x per month?) with the community editors about new content review, list of content that needs to be updatedàbrainstorm on who might be able to contribute
- most review/editing will be done by volunteers from the community
-video post-production person will provide guidance to contributors and add opening/closing screens for video
External
Who's involved?
- volunteer moderators/editors (committers, service providers, subject matter experts, etc.)
- volunteer contributors
What are the activities?
-content contributions
-volunteers (either solicited or unsolicited) contribute
-content review
-soliciting content contributions/content updates
Full Table of Contents Outline:
- What is DSpace
- why use DSpace? - not mktg piece, help audience understand what DSpace does
- what DSpace does really well and not so well
- why would you chose DSpace vs. Fedora (same content as in Fedora version)
- Get Started with DSpace (Installation/Setup):
- Installing DSpace for the First Time - What you need to plan for, how to do it.
- various Install Tips wiki pages:
- Overview of DSpace Interface Options (XMLUI, JSPUI, OAI, SWORD, LNI) - What to choose and how to make a decision
- Overview of DSpace directories & where data is stored in DSpace (high-level architecture overview).
- Basic Configuration options – intro to the 'config' directory
- Feature Overview
- Intro to Upgrading DSpace
- Hello, DSpace! (UI Basics):
- Overview of Communities & Collections - Create your first Community, Create your first Collection
- Adding Users / Groups
- DSpace Access Controls / Rights
- Submit your first Item
- Browsing & Searching DSpace
- Editing your DSpace Profile, email notifications, etc.
- Managing DSpace (DSpace Administration):
- Managing Content:
- Administration options for Communities / Collections / Items (may need to be several webinars)
- Changing Rights/Permissions on a Community / Collection / Item
- Withdrawing / Deleting / Editing Items
- "Mapping" / Linking Items to multiple Collections/Communities
- Editing or Deleting Communities or Collections
- Batch Metadata Editing
- Metadata Authority Control
- Adding a Custom Metadata Schema or Custom Metadata Fields
- Enabling RSS Feeds
- Improving your Indexing by Google / Google Scholar / Other Search Engines
- Enabling Optional Features:
-
- Intro to Handle Server?
- Basics of customizing your Item Submission Process (change metadata fields, steps, etc)
- Change "Browse By" options (add a new Metadata field to browse by)
- Managing DSpace Access Statistics
- Changing Header/Footer
- How do I look? (Changing the UI):
-
- Basic Intro to XMLUI Themes
- Adding "Discovery" (faceted browsing/searching)
- Enabling Embargoing of content in Submission process
- Enabling Creative Commons Licensing options in Submission process
- Enabling OAI-PMH / SWORD / LNI (may need separate webinars)
- Advanced Administration Tasks
- Exporting/Importing bulk content
- Backing up your DSpace instance
- Scaling your DSpace instance / hints on improving performance
- Migrating / Moving from one server to another
- Moving / Copying one Community/Collection to another DSpace (via AIPs)
- Curation Tasks
- Configuring Media Filters (for file indexing and thumbnails)
- Hooking DSpace up to your local Institution Authentication (LDAP, Shibboleth, etc)
- Using the Checksum Checker (why/how)
- Harvesting Content from an external source via OAI-PMH or OAI-ORE
- Using DSpace with DuraCloud?
The DSpace Course - Stuart Lewis and Chris Yates - August 2008
An Introduction to DSpace
How to Get Help
Repository Structure
Items in DSpace
An Introduction to Users and Groups
An Introduction to Metadata in DSpace
Technical Basic
Identifiers
DSpace Configuration
User management and authentication options
Metadata Input Customisation
Look and Feel Customisation
Language Customisation
Item Submission Workflows
Import and Export
RSS Feeds, Alerts and News
DSpace Statistics and Google Analytics
Configuring LDAP
Upgrading from 1.4. to 1.5
SWORD Basics
Course templates