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Tom, You're right that up front this setup would be more work designing our own mini-platform. And there is the concern about long-term support, which is a completely separate question that I have no idea how to answer. The time savings would be over the long term as the IR theoretically expands: - Staff could catalog materials using the same tools and systems they use for other cataloging. - We no longer have to pay for DSpace's rather steep system requirements and can use a much more lightweight server. - We no longer have to update DSpace or retheme it as our website changes. - There is one less entry point to our content, which in my opinion simplifies the discovery experience. But your comments have helped me see that the payoff is cumulative and would not be realized until we're at a point where we are entering a high volume of content into the IR. We are definitely not there yet, and there is no sense putting the cart before the horse. I think this is something we might consider in the future if and when our IR becomes successful. Thanks all. Joshua Welker Information Technology Librarian James C. Kirkpatrick Library University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO 64093 JCKL 2260 660.543.8022 On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 8:33 PM, Tom Cramer <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Josh, > > None of those pieces is an IR, but do you think > that when taken as a whole they could comprise an IR? > > Yes. I think it’s very healthy to think of the IR as a set of services, > rather than a single software product. And I really like the idea of using > your catalog as the discovery environment. (That’s what we do…) That said, > I have to say that... > > a. your approach doesn’t sound like less work overall (and in fact it > might be more?) > b. it raises the question of how your institution might support this over > the longterm > > It might still be viable, especially if it jibes with your institutional > technology strategy and staff capacity. > > Have you also considered moving to a cloud IR, such as DSpaceDirect< > http://dspacedirect.org/> or hosting from Atmire<https://www.atmire.com/ > services/dspace-hosting>? > > - Tom > > > > On Oct 25, 2017, at 2:16 PM, Josh Welker <[log in to unmask]<mailto:welker > @UCMO.EDU>> wrote: > > Hi Bryan, > > I agree that a repository is more than documents, and in this model we > would still do metadata, indexing, etc. It would just be handled by a > different piece. Instead of having one system that does it all (like > DSpace), we'd use the library catalog for metadata and indexing, backup > tools for preservation, and this homegrown solution just for hosting > publicly accessible files. None of those pieces is an IR, but do you think > that when taken as a whole they could comprise an IR? > > Joshua Welker > Information Technology Librarian > James C. Kirkpatrick Library > University of Central Missouri > Warrensburg, MO 64093 > JCKL 2260 > 660.543.8022 > > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 3:59 PM, Bryan Brown <[log in to unmask]<mailto: > [log in to unmask]>> wrote: > > Josh, > > > Theres nothing wrong with what you are describing if its all your > institution needs, but I would be careful about promoting that as an IR. An > IR is much more than a bunch of documents. The metadata modelling, > preservation features and indexing that you want to leave out are what > makes it a repository. Also, the infrastructure you are describing may lack > flexibility in the future if you decide you want to add new features to it. > > > Bryan J. Brown > > Repository Developer > > Technology & Digital Scholarship Division > > Florida State University Libraries > > ________________________________ > From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]<mailto: > [log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Josh > Welker <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> > Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 2:51:34 PM > To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> > Subject: [CODE4LIB] Lightweight IR infrastructure > > We're a mid-sized university library (10,000 fte) trying to get an IR off > the ground to showcase student and faculty research. We've had a DSpace > instance running for several years, but we use so few of its features that > DSpace ends up being more trouble than it is worth. In particular, it's > very frustrating to deal with metadata editing, file management, the Handle > URL system, and HTML/CSS theming. > > I am considering leaving the DSpace model in favor of our "IR" just being a > glorified FTP site that MARC records in our catalog can point to. I might > even build a tiny frontend using some scripting language to add IP > authentication, URL redirect stuff, or a Google Scholar interface, but > that's really it. No metadata modelling, no preservation features, no > indexing. > > Does anyone have experience using a very small, file-based (as opposed to > database-driven) application as a foundation for an IR? Are there any > problems I should anticipate? > > Joshua Welker > Information Technology Librarian > James C. Kirkpatrick Library > University of Central Missouri > Warrensburg, MO 64093 > JCKL 2260 > 660.543.8022 > > >