Export from DSpace to Fedora Repository Bridge Project October 2005

Contents Background Requirements Systems and architecture Interactions Standards Conclusion

Introduction Building a bridge to allow export of electronic theses from institutional repositories using DSpace to a national repository using Fedora. Export will be automated and will cover PhD and MPhil theses as well as some taught Masters theses, in a manner that mimics the present arrangement for paper based theses.

At present UniversityNLW catalogues shelves (for access) shelves (for archival storage)

Requirements - functions Automatic export of e-theses from DSpace into Fedora Manual specification of other items to export Log and report success or failure of software Security

Requirements – use cases Institutional Repository Archive Repository Exporter Sysadmin Importer Sysadmin Submitter Repository Bridge Add item to export List items Export item Import items View logs >

Requirements - constraints Designed so that maintenance of code relating to either repository is local to that repository Avoid changes to repository tools themselves Use established, stable standards for transfer of metadata

System architecture University NLW DSpace Exporter ExportList database Bridge module Web GUI Importer Web GUI ImportList Fedora Ingest database OAI-PMH Web services Bridge module OAI-PMH (METS)

System interaction (1) :Importer:ImportList:Exporter:ExportList DSpacehandshake start export get list OAI getRecord (METS) save item verify export {until no more items} finished

System interaction (2) Fedora :Importer:ImportList start ingest ingest item {until no more items} :Exporter handshake finished notify ingest save identifiers :ExportList

Standards (OAI and METS) Available “out of the box” DSpace can use OAI-PMH and export using METS Fedora can use METS as basis for import Not specific to any particular software Likely to be relatively stable But…

Questions Does OAI-PMH’s use of “sets” restrict design of institutional repositories? How do we decode the binary encoded rights (licence) data? What problems does the lack of structural metadata in DSpace export cause?

Another bridge With EThOS UK database of theses NLW acts as Welsh hub Inst UK DoT NLW

Export to UK-DoT From Fedora to BL OAI-PMH Needs richer set of metadata than plain Dublin Core OAI data provider provision in Fedora 2.1 will support this Multiple metadata formats Incremental harvest by date modified Support for OAI sets

Progress so far Investigations into submission and deposit of theses Requirements specification Started on design specification So…

…it’s early days Watch this space… Project website at Contact Jon Bell, Glen Robson,