RoadMap

Work in Progress

May 2015: This is an active document. It is not finalized, and may change in the coming month as the DSpace RoadMap Working Group and Steering Group create a final draft for presentation at OR15.

This Technical RoadMap is based on the DSpace 2015-18 Strategic Plan - Technology and the Use Case Analysis produced by the DSpace RoadMap Working Group in April/May of 2015. The DSpace RoadMap Working Group consists of the members of DCAT, Committers and Steering Group: Tim Donohue (Lead, DuraSpace), Stuart Lewis (Edinburgh), Bram Luyten (@mire), Jonathan Markow (DuraSpace), Michele Mennielli (CINECA), Richard Rodgers (MIT), Ryan Steans (Texas Digital Library), Maureen Walsh (Ohio State)

Candidate Features for DSpace 6.0

(NOTE: This list is incomplete, and does not represent a list of ALL features to be added into DSpace 6.0 in late 2015. It just notes a few smaller features / goals from the 2015-18 Strategic Plan for Technology which will be targeted towards the 6.0 release. Based on the tight timeline for 6.0, most major features/goals from the Strategic Plan for Technology are scheduled for the 7.0 release in late 2016.)

Priority 1 Features

Design / Notes

Related Technical Strategic Goal(s)

Core?

Complexity

Use Cases

Volunteers

Single Search / Browse System (SOLR)

Lucene and old DB browse system are already deprecated. Just need removal

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Goal 2: Lean and flexible

x

Low

Single built-in Statistical Engine (SOLR Statistics)

Move Elasticsearch Usage Statistics to external "module"? Possibly related to "Module Framework" project however (so it may or may not need to wait for 7.0)

Goal 2: Lean and flexible

x

Low

NOTE: More features will be discussed on the DSpace Release 6.0 Status page, and added to this list as they are finalized. Work on the 6.0 release is proceeding in parallel to the development of this RoadMap, and therefore, this RoadMap primarily represents the goals/candidate features for the 7.0 release in 2016.)

Candidate Features for DSpace 7.0 - Priority 1

(NOTE: The DSpace 7.0 release is tentatively scheduled for late 2016 or early 2017. The below candidate features are ordered in terms of perceived importance to the 7.0 release. However, if you or your institution would like to drive or lead the development of a specific feature, you are welcome to volunteer your time towards any of the candidate features listed, no matter where that feature ranks in the listing.)

Priority 1 Features	Design / Notes	Related Technical Strategic Goal(s)	Core?	Complexity	Use Cases
Single User Interface	Design - Single UI Project	Goal 2: Lean and flexible	x	High	For reference: End User Use Cases Admin UI Use Cases
Configurations in Admin User Interface	Dependent on / related to "Single User Interface"	Goal 5: Low cost, "just works"	x	High	Page: Admin UI - Configurations in the admin UI Page: Admin UI - Changing / Editing OAI crosswalks Page: Structure - Associate Separate Properties with Each DSpace Community Page: Admin UI - Configure and manage browse indexes Page: Admin UI - Rebuild the discovery index Page: Integration - Integration with external authentication / authorisation system Page: Integrations - Authentication through Multiple Mechanisms Page: Admin UI - DSpace should accommodate basic index normalization Page: Structure - Format checking of data entry in input forms Page: Structure - Check Bitstream names against allowed file name pattern Page: Admin UI - System Alerts via Admin UI Page: Admin UI - Customise which metadata fields to facet upon, search upon Page: Admin UI - Alter messages easier Page: Admin UI - Apply an input-form to the collection through the GUI Page: Admin UI - Manage input forms Page: Structure - Manage Lists, Controlled Vocabularies and Authority Control Page: Admin UI - Manage controlled vocabularies Page: Admin UI - Approval workflows
Non-functional: "Module" Framework and Registry	Design - Module Framework and Registry	Goal 3: Can be "extended"	x	High
Simplify Community & Collection Hierarchy	Design - Simplify Community and Collection Hierarchy	Goal 2: Lean and flexible	x	High	Structure - Community and Collection hierarchy (or generic containers)
Lower the effort to deposit content into DSpace (via integrations)	Design - Lower effort to deposit	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR Goal 4: Integration with external services	x	Medium

Candidate Features for DSpace 7.0 - Priority 2

(NOTE: The DSpace 7.0 release is tentatively scheduled for late 2016 or early 2017. As "priority 2" features, these features are not guaranteed for the DSpace 7.0 release, but we'd encourage community members to volunteer to help achieve any of these features. If there is community interest in moving one or more of these features forward, that feature may be moved up to "priority 1" for the 7.0 release.)

Priority 2 Features	Design / Notes	Related Technical Strategic Goal(s)	Core?	Complexity	Use Cases
Hierarchical Metadata Support	DSpace should support hierarchical metadata formats (e.g. MODS)	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x	High	Structure - Support for hierarchical metadata formats (e.g. METS / MODS)
Relationships between Objects	DSpace should support defining relationships between objects (especially at the Item and Bitstream level). Some object relationships may be definable via metadata, but should be respected by the DSpace UI. But, in other situations, it may also necessitate the creation of new types of Objects (e.g. Author objects as Authors of an Item rather than simply textual metadata) Primary use case description: Structure - Relationships between objects	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x	High	Structure - Relationships between objects Structure - Apply licenses to bitstreams
Enhance Basic Statistical Reporting	Primary use case description: Basic Statistics (and all child pages) This would likely be depending on the "Single User Interface" project for much of the enhancements, as many of these reports are UI related.	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x	Medium	Stats/Metrics - Basic Statistics (and all child pages)
Enhance Basic Preservation	See linked use cases for more details of possible enhancements to existing basic preservation functionality	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x	Medium	Admin UI - Basic Preservation - Fixity Checking Admin UI - Basic Preservation - Format identification Admin UI - Basic Preservation - Format validation Admin UI - Format reporting
Easy and Intuitive Deposit Interface	Dependent on / related to "Single User Interface" Primary use case description: Easy and Intuitive Deposit Interface May need further definition around what sorts of changes will make deposit easier?	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x	Medium	Page: End User - Email Deposit of bitstream for automatically captured metadata Page: Admin UI - Generate Handle before commiting Item Page: End User - Curated thumbnails Page: Admin UI - Undo a bulk import from the User Interface Page: Structure - Manual Submission of New Items Page: End User - Flexible licensing Page: End User - Easy and Intuitive Deposit Interface Page: End User - Email Deposit of bitstream for archived metadata-only item Page: End User - Deposit entire item by email Page: Structure - Format checking of data entry in input forms Page: Structure - Check Bitstream names against allowed file name pattern Page: Integrations - importing large files into repositories using an external system Page: Integrations - Importing data from discipline-specific systems into DSpace Page: Admin UI - Apply an input-form to the collection through the GUI Page: Admin UI - Updating a Workflow group Page: Admin UI - Workflow Overview Rejection Page: Structure - Create / manage files and metadata (as an Item) Page: Admin UI - Manage input forms Page: Structure - Manage Lists, Controlled Vocabularies and Authority Control Page: Structure - Automated Update of Existing Items

Post-7.0 Features

(NOTE: While these features are scheduled as "post-7.0" at this time, we still encourage volunteers to begin to analyze or tackle them. If there is interest in moving one or more of these features forward in the nearterm, we can immediately move it up into the 7.0 release.)

Features	Design / Notes	Related Technical Strategic Goal(s)	Core?	Complexity	Use Cases
Non-functional: Easier Installation	Dependent on some Priority 1 features (e.g. Single UI, Configs in Admin UI)	Goal 5: Low cost, "just works"	x
Non-functional: Easier Upgrade Process	Dependent on some Priority 1 features (e.g. Single UI, Configs in Admin UI Could be helped by "Theme management in Admin UI"	Goal 5: Low cost, "just works"	x
Advanced Usage Statistics	Likely an optional module or external integration, therefore it may be dependent on a "Module Framework" being developed Ranked very highly in 2013-14 Vision Survey	Goal 3: Can be "extended"		High	Stats/Metrics - Advanced Statistics Others under "uc-stats-metrics" label
Theme management in Admin UI	Ranked lower in 2013-14 Vision Survey	Goal 5: Low cost, "just works"	x	High	Page: Admin UI - Apply an existing theme to a collection or community through the GUI Page: Admin UI - Theme management Page: Admin UI - Theme templates Page: Admin UI - Alter messages easier Page: End User - Visual collection browsing
Enhance Versioning	Ranked lower in 2013-14 Vision Survey		x		Page: Structure - Automated Retention of All changes to Items Page: Structure - Manual Edit of Existing Items Page: Structure - Manual Creation of "New Editions" of an Item Page: Structure - Generated provenance for all added bitstreams
Replace "Bundle" object with Metadata or similar	A "Bundle" object is just a simple grouping of Files (Bitstreams) (e.g. "THUMBNAIL", "TEXT"). Rather than being its own object, a "bundle" could be more easily replaced with metadata on individual Bitstreams (e.g. dc.type="thumbnail"), or even relationships between Bitstreams (i.e. derivative objects). Primary use case description: Structure - purpose of bundle layer May also be dependent on or related to "Relationships between Objects" project	Goal 2: Lean and flexible	x	Medium	Structure - purpose of bundle layer Structure - Describe Individual Bitstream within an Item Structure - Support for derivative objects
Advanced Preservation	Likely an optional module or external integration, therefore it may be dependent on a "Module Framework" being developed Ranked lower in 2013-14 Vision Survey	Goal 3: Can be "extended"		High	Admin UI - Advanced Preservation - Format Migration Admin UI - Advanced Preservation - Format characterization Others under "uc-preservation" label
Enhance Search / Browse System	See various unmet use cases labeled "Search/Browse" Dependent on "Single Search / Browse System" feature being completed, to ensure we can more easily implement new Search/Browse use cases Some use cases also dependent on "Single User Interface" being completed	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x		Page: End User - Enhanced access to related items Page: End User - Search for items Page: End User - Browse Page: End User - Intelligent rendering of URL's in item Metadata Page: Admin UI - Trigger the re-index of a collection Page: End User - Clear distinction between different types of contributor involvement Page: End User - Discovery and retrieval of content on mobile devices Page: Admin UI - Configure and manage browse indexes Page: Admin UI - Rebuild the discovery index Page: Admin UI - DSpace should accommodate basic index normalization Page: Structure - Create the ability to place "dynamic collections" (pre-faceted view of a collection) within the community hierarchy. Page: Admin UI - Customise which metadata fields to facet upon, search upon Page: Admin UI - Run media filters Page: Admin UI - Clear the OAI Cache Page: Admin UI - Rebuild the OAI index
Enhance Access Control	See various unmet use cases regarding "Access Control" Also see Unable to locate Jira server for this macro. It may be due to Application Link configuration.	Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR	x		Page: Admin UI - Change permissions of all the bitstreams in a bundle Page: Admin UI - Configure hidden communities and collections Page: Admin UI - Access Rights on all levels of objects within the system Page: Integration - Integration with external authentication / authorisation system Page: Integrations - Authentication through Multiple Mechanisms Page: Admin UI - Updating a Workflow group Page: Admin UI - Embargo functionality Page: Admin UI - Approval workflows

Integrations

Integration	Design / Notes	Related Technical Strategic Goal(s)	Core?	Complexity	Use Cases	Volunteers
Integration with external authentication / authorisation system	Also related to Authentication through Multiple Mechanisms Already exists to some extent (LDAP, Shibb, etc). But, would be nice to move to a third-party, standardized AutN/AuthZ solution. Unable to locate Jira server for this macro. It may be due to Application Link configuration.	Goal 4: Integration with external services	x	Medium
Integrations that increase the exposure of content stored into DSpace in external systems		Goal 4: Integration with external services

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