DSpace – institutional repositories – dissemination of research results: A local case study

Abstract

DSpace is an open source software package intended for creating digital archives. It is primarily used as a platform for open access repositories and it enables (1) archiving various types of documents in a variety of digital formats and describing them using a standardized set of metadata; (2) searching the repository content (metadata and full-text content, in case of textual documents); (3) importing and exporting the repository content and (4) disseminating it via OAI-PMH. At the administration level, it is possible to assign and control user roles and access to metadata and deposited documents. The platform is customizable and it is available in multiple languages (community translations). The software package is developed and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by the non-profit organization Dura Space. DSpace is the most commonly used repository software: 43% of all repositories registered in OpenDOAR use DSpace as the platform. DSpace is also the backbone of Serbia’s (still underdeveloped) repository infrastructure, which heavily relies on a number of DSpace instances installed, customized and maintained by the Computer Centre of the University of Belgrade. These are namely the national repository of PhD theses (NaRDuS) and institutional repositories of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and three research institutes of the University of Belgrade. This case study deals with the institutional repositories established and maintained by the Computer Centre of the University of Belgrade. It presents the challenges faced during the processes of customizing the software platform, ensuring interoperability and integration with major international open science infrastructures, devising standardized workflows and procedures, and training administrators and users – librarians and researchers. The established institutional repositories serve as a powerful research dissemination platform, especially in those disciplines where print publications in local languages still prevail.