The Use of Dspace Software in Preservation and Management of Specific Library Resources

ABSTRACT  

This paper examines Dspace software and how it is used in preserving and managing scholarly documents in Kashim Ibrahim Library, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. The paper highlights what an Institutional repository is, what it is used for, open-source software, and how Dspace software runs.

The paper concludes that librarians should keep abreast of the current developments in ICT and choose appropriate software that is geared toward a digital revolution. 

INTRODUCTION

Digitization can remedy and ensure the global visibility of information resources in our institutions; many universities want to digitalize their intellectual wealth.

Once an institution has a clear vision and defines what the repository will do for its community, subsequent decisions such as a choice of software are an essential factor to be considered. A feasibility study of the software is very important in this choice.

Soft wares are initially chosen with great promises, but as the project progresses, challenges that were not identified ab-initio arise to demoralize the initial enthusiasm, therefore software with large community users and developers should be considered in order to achieve the objective of the repository.  

Institutional Repository  

According to Barton and Waters (2004) “institutional repositories is a database with a set of services to capture, store, index, preserve and redistribute a university’s scholarly research in digital formats”. The Institutional Repositories can be regarded as follows: 

*Institutionally defined
*Scholarly
*Cumulative and perpetual
*Open and Interoperable (OAI-compliant and allow open access to scholarly research).

An institutional repository is used in the following ways:
*Scholarly communication
*Storing learning materials and courseware
*Electronic publishing
*Managing collections of research documents
*Preserving digital materials for the long term
*Adding to the university’s prestige by showcasing its academic research
*Institutional leadership role for the Library
*Knowledge management
*Research assessment
*Encouraging open access to scholarly research
*Housing digitized collections
Most institutions and libraries are now considering Open Source Technology for building and
developing their institutional repositories, because of its advantages.

REFERENCES

Barton, M. R. and Waters M. M. (2004). Creating an Institutional Repository: LEADIRS
Workbook. Retrieved from http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721 accessed on
10/05/2011
Bass, M. J. et.al (2002). Dspace-Functionality, MIT. Available at
http://Dspace.org/technology/functionality.pdf accessed on 10/05/2011
Morris, M.C. (2009). Taking Dspace Out-of-the-Box. Retrieved from
http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/duraspace/2009/09/18/taking-dspace-out-of-the-box accessed on
10/05/2011
Pennock, M. (2006). Dspace Digital repository Software. Retrieved from
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/briefing-papers/technology…/Dspace accessed on
10/05/2011
Walker, J. H. (2010). Dspace: A Case Study in Sustainability. MIT Libraries. Retrieved from
http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/cs-dspace.xml accessed on 10/05/201.

CSN Team.

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