'DSpace' installation training workshop

Glasgow, 9-11 September 2003

This workshop provides training and guidance for technical staff of institutions that are considering implementing a digital repository using the 'DSpace' software. The workshop, organized jointly by the DSpace@Cambridge project and ERPANET, will enable participants to develop a knowledge of, and practical skills in the installation and implementation of DSpace, which they can then utilise within their own institution.

DSpace

DSpace (http://dspace.org/) is a digital repository system, created as a joint project between MIT Libraries and the Hewlett-Packard Company, and publicly released in November 2002 as open-source software.

It manages and distributes digital items, made up of digital files (or "bitstreams") and allows for the creation, indexing, and searching of associated metadata to locate and retrieve the items. It is also designed to support the long-term preservation of the digital material stored in the repository. 

· For the user, it enables easy remote access and the ability to search and read DSpace items from one location: the World Wide Web.

· For the contributor, it offers the advantages of digital distribution and long-term preservation for a variety of formats including text, audio, video, images, datasets and more. Authors can store their digital works in collections that are maintained by DSpace "communities" within the parent institution, and these communities (such as university departments, laboratories, and research groups) can adapt the system to meet their individual needs and manage the submission process themselves. 

· For the institution, it offers the opportunity to provide access to all the institution's research and teaching materials in digital format through one interface. The repository is organized to accommodate the varying policy and workflow issues inherent in a multi-disciplinary environment. Submission workflow and access policies can be customized to adhere closely to each community's needs. 

The DSpace system is freely available as open-source software from SourceForge (sourceforge.net/projects/dspace/) under the terms of the BSD distribution licence.  Open-source systems like DSpace are available for anyone to download and run at any type of institution, organization, or company (or even just an individual). Users are also allowed to modify DSpace to meet an organizations specific needs. The specific terms of use are described in the BSD distribution licence.

About the Sponsors

The Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI)
CMI (www.cambridge-mit.org/) is a six-year strategic alliance between Cambridge University and MIT funded by the UK Government with the remit to improve the competitiveness, productivity and entrepreneurship of the United Kingdom by educating leaders, discovering knowledge and developing technologies, and creating programs for change using a partnership of MIT and Cambridge.

DSpace@Cambridge
The DSpace@Cambridge project (www.lib.cam.ac.uk/dspace/) is a three-year collaboration between Cambridge University Library and MIT Libraries funded by a CMI grant.  The project will enable Cambridge University to contribute to the development of the DSpace software, and also to assist other UK universities wishing to implement DSpace.  The costs of the training team for the Glasgow workshop are sponsored by the DSpace@Cambridge project. 

ERPANET
The European Commission funded ERPANET project is facilitating this event (www.erpanet.org). The dominant feature of ERPANET is the provision of a virtual clearinghouse and knowledge-base on state-of-the-art developments in digital preservation and the transfer of that expertise among individuals and institutions. This workshop is part of their regular events to disseminate knowledge and expertise. 

Where

The workshop will take place at the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at the University of Glasgow (www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk). HATII has donated the use of their state-of-the art multimedia lab to enable the workshop. 

Details of accommodation are available from www.erpanet.org.

Programme

The workshop will begin at midday on 9th September, and finish at lunchtime 11th September. Exact times and locations will be emailed to registered participants. 

The lead trainers will be Richard Rodgers (Systems Manager, DSpace Federation, MIT, USA) and Tom De Mulder (Systems Manager, DSpace@Cambridge, Cambridge University, UK).

Costs

The costs associated with the workshop have been kept to a minimum through the sponsorship of the partners.  Participants will be charged £120, which will cover the cost of two dinners, and lunch (on Wednesday) and coffee each day. 

Registration

Participation in the first instance is reserved for staff at UK institutions and in particular those from the higher and further education sectors. As numbers are limited (25 participants only), we would ask those interested to look carefully at the skill set participants must have if they are to gain maximum benefit from the workshop before submitting interest (see below). 

In the first instance we can only accept one participant per institution to maximize the distributed impact of the workshop. On the 21st of August, any remaining places will be allocated to those who registered an interest from other European countries and to a possible second attendee from institutions already participating.

Skills Required

Before registering an interest to participate you should ensure that you have the following skills.

1. Solid, *hands-on* grasp of basic Unix system administration, including file permissions, users, groups & how to set them. Proficiency with standard utilities (tar,grep,vi,...) and shell scripts.
2. Good understanding of the Web (http, html, ...) and ideally experience with webservers such as Apache and their basic configuration.
3. Familiarity with obtaining and installing software from source bundles: download, de-archive, build and installation.
4. Prior exposure to SQL RDBMS systems, and their basic administration.
5. Basic working knowledge of Java, and its build environment.
6. Some understanding of Java application servers like Tomcat, and some java knowledge esp. wrt JSPs

How to Register

For further details of these requirements, and to register interest see www.erpanet.org. Your registration will be final on payment of the course fee.

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