Since my last update the floodgates have opened and many positive DSpace developments have spilled forth!
By reaching out to the DSpace user community, I Chin U. Kim and I resolved the SWORDv2 endpoint issue I discussed in my last blog post. In the same manner we also solved an issue that was causing DSpace item URIs (uniform resource identifiers) to be formed incorrectly. Working with open source software like DSpace and SWORD can be challenging because there is no support line to call when things go wrong, you just have to fix it yourself. That said when a product is popular enough there’s usually an active community of users happy to provide help and guidance, a community you yourself join when you implement an open source system.
These technical breakthroughs allowed me to fully connect Elements and DSpace. I can now successfully deposit items into DSpace through Elements’ user interface. With this checked off the list, development of DSpace-related policies, metadata configurations, and workflows went full-steam ahead.
In preparation for this work, I created test XML crosswalk files designed to determine the affordances and limitations of the Elements-DSpace bridge. What I found out will end up informing both the policy work Annie Johnson (Unlicensed) will lead, and the metadata work Holly Tomren will lead. For example, the advisory statements and deposit licenses Annie will prepare will most likely be shaped by the fact that all objects in an elements instance with the repository connection enabled will have a ‘deposit’ option.
I met 1-on-1 with Annie and gave her the information she needs to customize the Elements->DSpace deposit interface. I successfully pulled into Elements per-journal copyright advice from SHERPA RoMEO, and set up a test version of the Elements->DSpace deposit user interface, demonstrating this interface, and the entire deposit workflow, to Annie.
I also met 1-on-1 with Holly and got her advice on how to structure our DSpace workflows, as she has extensive DSpace experience. I also sent her the raw info she or a designee will need to construct the crosswalk maps. We will soon schedule another 1-on-1 meeting to discuss how to most efficiently carry out this work, some of which will happen within MADS and some of which will happen in LTD.
Stay tuned for further developments!