Contribute to the DSpace Development Fund
The newly established DSpace Development Fund supports the development of new features prioritized by DSpace Governance. For a list of planned features see the fund wiki page.
Draft Document
While this document is still being enhanced, it is considered in a "reviewable" state. Feedback is welcome via comments on this wiki page or via the Twitter hashtag #dspaceplan.
Video Presentation of this Roadmap available
This Roadmap was presented during the DSpace Interest Groups sessions at both OR15 (week of June 8), and OAI9 (week of June 15).
- A video screencast of this talk is now available at: http://youtu.be/qlPAeqCptxw
- Slides are also available at: http://www.slideshare.net/tdonohue/dspace-technology-roadmap-201516
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
Because of tight timelines for 6.0, the 6.0 release will be a "bring us what you have" release (similar to 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 in the last three years). Therefore, most of the features in 6.0 will be determined from community contributions which align well with the overarching Strategic Plan and Roadmap (see below).
Therefore, 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.
| Priority 1 Features | Design / Notes | Related Technical Strategic Goal(s) | Core? | Complexity | Use Cases | Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Search / Browse System (SOLR) | While the default Search/Browse system is now based on Apache Solr, DSpace continues to maintain outdated code which supports the Traditional Lucene / Database system.
| Goal 2: Lean and flexible | x | Low |
| |
| Single built-in Statistical Engine (SOLR Statistics) | DSpace currently has two built-in statistical engines, one based on Apache Solr (default) and another based on ElasticSearch. DSpace should only provide one out-of-the-box, built-in statistical engine (Solr Statistics), and the ElasticSearch codebase should be migrated into an optional "module" or add-on.
| 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
The DSpace 7.0 release is tentatively scheduled for late 2016 or early 2017. The below candidate features are ordered in terms of importance to the 7.0 release. As such, the goal is to achieve each feature in the order that they appear. 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 | Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single User Interface | DSpace currently maintains two user interfaces in parallel (JSPUI and XMLUI). We want to "converge" on a single, out-of-the-box user interface for DSpace. | Goal 2: Lean and flexible | x | High | For reference: | Cineca |
| Configurations in Admin User Interface | DSpace should support the modification of most configurations/settings from the Administrative User Interface, instead of requiring such configurations be tweaked from command line.
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | x | High | Cineca | |
| Non-functional: Module Framework and Registry | DSpace needs a clear definition of what constitutes a "DSpace module", so that third-parties can create, maintain and distribute their own "modules" as add-ons to DSpace, and distribute them via a public "registry". | Goal 3: Can be "extended" | x | High | Cineca (interested) | |
| Simplify Community & Collection Hierarchy | DSpace's required hierarchy of Communities and Collections should be replaced with a more flexible module of supporting Collections & Sub-Collections. | Goal 2: Lean and flexible | x | High | ||
| Lower the effort to deposit content into DSpace (via integrations) | The DSpace deposit process should integrate more closely with external data sources, in order to automatically populate (or suggest) data on deposit. We should also investigate whether some integrations may allow opportunities for Administrator's to autopopulate DSpace from trusted, external content sources. | Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR Goal 4: Integration with external services | x | Medium |
| Cineca (interested) |
Candidate Features for DSpace 7.0 - Priority 2
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. These features are ordered in terms of importance, but are all considered to be lower importance than the "priority 1" features listed above.
| Priority 2 Features | Design / Notes | Related Technical Strategic Goal(s) | Core? | Complexity | Use Cases | Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hierarchical Metadata Support | DSpace should support hierarchical metadata formats (e.g. MODS) | Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | High | Cineca | |
| 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)
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | High | Cineca | |
| Enhance Basic Statistical Reporting | DSpace's existing Statistical Reporting user interfaces are rudimentary and do not provide enough useful views/reports/exports of the underlying captured data. These should be enhanced based on modern use cases/needs.
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | Medium |
| |
| Enhance Basic Preservation | DSpace's existing basic preservation functions (format identification, checksum verification, etc) could use enhancement based on modern tools and services.
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | Medium | ||
| Easy and Intuitive Deposit Interface | DSpace's deposit interface could use enhancement for a better overall user experience with regards to usability and accessibility.
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | Medium | Cineca (interested) |
Post-7.0 Features
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 we can immediately schedule it for an upcoming release. These features are unordered, but are all considered priorities for DSpace moving forward.
| Features | Design / Notes | Related Technical Strategic Goal(s) | Core? | Complexity | Use Cases | Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-functional: Easier Installation | While DSpace's installation process continues to improve, it is still highly manual in nature. We should investigate ways to provide an "easy installer" which could potentially even auto-install and configure prerequisites such as Tomcat, Postgres, etc.
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | x |
| ||
| Non-functional: Easier Upgrade Process | While DSpace's upgrade process continues to improve, it is still complex with regards to local customizations or theme changes. We should investigate of simplifying the upgrade process, by alleviate the manual process of merging in local changes/tweaks where possible.
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | x |
| ||
| Advanced Usage Statistics | DSpace currently only provides basic statististical reporting functionality. We should investigate ways to provide enhanced, highly detailed reports for users who need them. Likely, this will be implemented as an optional module available via a module registry.
| Goal 3: Can be "extended" | High |
| ||
| Theme management in Admin UI | While DSpace currently supports some basic theming in the XMLUI interface, management of such themes is performed via command-line configurations and tweaks. We should find a way to make Themes selectable and tweakable via the Admin UI, like other modern web facing systems.
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | x | High | ||
| Enhance Versioning | DSpace provides an optional, basic Item versioning capability. However, this versioning capability is limited in nature, and not yet fully integrated into all DSpace tools and interfaces. We should find a way to enhance item versioning, and make it more embedded into the system (and API) overall.
| x | Cineca | |||
| Replace "Bundle" object with Metadata or similar | In DSpace, 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).
| Goal 2: Lean and flexible | x | Medium | ||
| Advanced Preservation | DSpace currently only provides basic preservation tools (format identification, checksum verification, etc) out-of-the-box. We should investigate providing enhanced preservation options (or integrations) for users who need it. Likely, this will be implemented as an optional module available via a module registry.
| Goal 3: Can be "extended" | High | |||
| Enhance Search / Browse System | While DSpace's search/browse system continues to improve, there are still ways we can improve the user experience of finding items within DSpace.
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | |||
| Enhance Access Control | DSpace's access control system (which manages authentication and authorization) is a custom solution that is now nearly as old as the software platform itself. While it functions well enough as-is, replacing it with a comparable third-party, open source AuthN/AuthZ system would simplify our codebase and ongoing maintenance.
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | Cineca | ||
| Single Approval Workflow system | DSpace currently has two approval workflow systems:
We should consolidate on a single Approval Workflow system, likely the Configurable Workflow, with sane defaults | Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x | |||
| Enhance Approval Workflow capabilities | While directly related to the "Single Approval Workflow system" feature (above), DSpace's workflow system(s) do not yet meet all community use cases for approval workflows. This feature is a placeholder for enhancing the Approval Workflow system based on the Workflow Use Cases (see list in the "Use Cases" column). However, it is likely somewhat dependent on standardizing on a single Workflow system.
| Goal 1: Fundamentals of IR | x |
Integrations
While integrations are very important to DSpace, these integrations projects are "unscheduled" as of yet. Some of these integrations are "ongoing activities" (e.g. search engine optimization), while others require further definition, or their design may be affected by one or more of the candidate features listed above. Nonetheless, if there is interest in moving one or more of these features forward in the nearterm, we can immediately schedule it for an upcoming release. These integrations are unordered, but are all considered priorities for DSpace moving forward.
| Integration | Design / Notes | Related Technical Strategic Goal(s) | Core? | Complexity | Use Cases | Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Integration with external authentication / authorisation system |
| Goal 4: Integration with external services | x | Medium | Cineca | |
| Integrations that increase the exposure of content stored into DSpace in external systems | Goal 4: Integration with external services | |||||
| Integrations - Persistent Identifiers other than Handles (DOI) | Goal 4: Integration with external services | x | ||||
| Integrations - Personal Identifiers (ORCID) (Enhanced) |
| Goal 4: Integration with external services | x | |||
| End User - Streaming Video Content |
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | ||||
Integrations - integrating with third party document streaming services |
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | ||||
| Integrations - Streaming Image Server |
| Goal 5: Low cost, "just works" | ||||
| Integrations - Search Engine Optimization |
| Goal 4: Integration with external services | x |
Overview
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