Choosing Delivery Software for a Digital Library Jody DeRidder Digital Library Center University of Tennessee

Outline I. Introduction I. Introduction II. Assess the Internal Situation II. Assess the Internal Situation III. Locating Available Options IV. Narrowing the Selection V. In-Depth Assessment: Testing V. In-Depth Assessment: Testing VI. Conclusions

Introduction Software is only one aspect of a digital library. Software is only one aspect of a digital library. Intelligent selection requires careful assessment of internal needs and resources, as well as careful assessment of the options… Once you begin using a system, you have made a major commitment. Once you begin using a system, you have made a major commitment.

II. Assess the Internal Situation A. Users: who are they? 1) What do they need? 1) What do they need? 2) What do they want? 2) What do they want? B. Clients: who are they? 1) What do they need? 1) What do they need? 2) What do they want? 2) What do they want?

II. Assess the Internal Situation C: Support 1) Servers(s) 1) Servers(s)  Operating System  Processor Speed  Disk Space  Mitigating Factors

II. Assess the Internal Situation C: Support 2) Personnel 2) Personnel  Skill Sets  Time Available 3) Monetary Costs 3) Monetary Costs  Hardware  Software  Personnel  Professional Support

II. Assess the Internal Situation D: Other Considerations  Formats of Materials and Collections Collections  Metadata Standards  Additional Functionality

III. Locating Available Options  Listservs  Web Searches  Peer Institutions  Recent Literature  Conference Presentations

IV. Narrowing the Selection  User needs met  Client needs met  Support Requirements  Server needs  Personnel needs  Monetary Cost  Other Considerations  Community Acceptance and Experiences  Stability

V. In-Depth Assessment of Selected Software A.Put It Through the Paces  Install & Configure  Pilot Project  Necessary Customizations  Patch and/or Upgrade

V. In-Depth Assessment of Selected Software B. Document and Assess 1)Workflow for Ingestion 2)Processing Steps 3)Functionality  Scalability  Batch Support  Exports  Interoperability  Use Assessment Support  Usability

V. In-Depth Assessment of Selected Software B. Document and Assess 4) Difficulty and Time Cost  Support Personnel  Clients  Users

V. In-Depth Assessment of Selected Software C. Project Total Costs  Initial Cost  Work hour cost per item/collection  Maintenance, including customizations  Upgrades  Migration

V. In-Depth Assessment of Selected Software D. Compare Costs to Benefits and Available Resources

VI. Summary Selecting an appropriate software depends on your knowledge of what you need, what you have to offer, and what is out there… Include your technical team when assessing software, and do not rush the decision. The more information you gather, the more intelligent your choice will be.

Exercise! DSpace Vs. Greenstone Looking at an example implementation of each: Looking at an example implementation of each: Compare the interfaces from a user’s perspective.  Search options  Browse options  Look and Feel... What do you notice?... What do you notice?

Exercise! DSpace Vs. Greenstone 1) You have access to a powerful Unix server with several terabytes of space. You need a system to use for an institutional repository, where faculty can deposit their research findings (from their own desktops!), for search and retrieval open to all, or only within their department. Which system do you want?

2) You have been scanning materials, particularly images, and you have some minimal metadata, but you don’t have any servers. Yet your dean wants these collections up on the web. You’re willing to hire professional help and hosting, but right now, you can’t afford more than $300 per month. Which system do you want? Exercise! DSpace Vs. Greenstone

3) You have fairly old Windows operating systems with only a few GB of space on your Windows servers. You are willing to install clients on the machines of the staff who will be uploading batches of prepared collections from your library’s digitization effort. You simply want them to be available open access to anyone browsing the web. Which system do you want?

Exercise! DSpace Vs. Greenstone 4) Your library staff and clientele are Hispanic, and English is rarely spoken; all your cataloging is in Spanish. Your funding is poor, so staffing is short. You will need to put files online in batches. What’s your best option, and why?

Exercise! DSpace Vs. Greenstone 5) It's very important that your collection remains available for an extended period of time. You want persistent identifiers for your materials, so that users can always access them. You also want some measure of preservation. What's your best option? Does either system keep backups for you, or migrate materials when their formats become obsolete?

Exercise! DSpace Vs. Greenstone 6) You have a collection of mixed materials (PDF, photographs, HTML, book page- turners), and want to be able to offer searching and results display with thumbnails from a single interface. In addition, you would like to support searching across collections. Which system supports this best?

More Links DSpace Home: Home: Wiki: Wiki: Sourceforge: Sourceforge: MIT: MIT: Greenstone Home: Home: Wiki: Wiki: Sourceforge: Sourceforge: