DSpace: Technical Basics

Iryna KuchmaOpen Access Programme Manager

Open Access and the Evolving Scholarly Communication Environment workshop, July 11, 2012, Makerere University

www.eifl.netAttribution 3.0 Unported

Application Architecture

The DSpace system is organised into three tiers which consist of a number of components

Each layer only invokes the layer below it i.e. the application layer may not used the storage layer directly

The Storage Layer

The storage layer is responsible for physical storage of metadata and content

DSpace uses a relational database to store all information about the organization of content, metadata about the content, information about e-people and authorization, and the state of currently-running workflows.

The Business Logic Layer

The business logic layer deals with managing the content of the archive, users of the archive (e-people), authorization, and workflow

The Application Layer

The application layer contains components that communicate with the world outside of the individual DSpace installation, for example the Web user interface and the Open Archives Initiative protocol for metadata harvesting serviceThe DSpace Web UI is the largest and most-used component in the application layer. Two versions:1. JSPUI: Built on Java Servlet and JavaServer Page

technology2. XMLUI (Manakin): Built on XML and Cocoon technology

Server Architecture

Web Application Server

User Interface

These systems may reside on a single server or be hosted separately on dedicated servers

Structural Overview

DSpace is split into three directory trees:Source Directory [dspace-src] Surprisingly, this is where the source code resides

Install Directory [dspace] Populated during install & during normal operation Contains:

Configuration files Command line tools Libraries DSpace archive (depending on configuration)

Web Deployment Directory [tomcat]/webapps/dspace Contains the JSPs and Java classes and libraries

necessary to run DSpace

Persistent Identifiers

The use of location based identifiers such as the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) often leads to problems in accessibility to resources with timeOften when accessing a resource via a hyperlink users receive a “404 - page not found” errorPersistent identifiers are an attempt at solving the issues surrounding resource identification and long term preservationA persistent identifier allows the resource to be uniquely identified in a way that will not change if the resource is renamed or relocated

Persistent Identifiers

This means that a resource can be reliably referenced for future access by humans and software

Caveat: Persistence is heavily dependant on organisation policy i.e. persistence of an object is only effective if an organisation maintains and manages this persistence

Different systems in use for persistent identifiers Persistent Uniform Resource Locators (PURLs) Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) Handle – Used by DSpace

The Handle

In a handle system, resource address is identified by a unique handle assigned by a common registration service

Registration Service

Handle Prefix Local Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net 2160 568

http://hdl.handle.net/2160/568

Practical: Using a Handle

Navigate to Aberystwyth’s DSpace repository – Cadair Select an item from a collection and note the handle

address

Open this address in a new browser window

The handle will resolve an redirect back to your original item

Configuring the Handles service

Out of the box, a DSpace installation will use the handle:

hdl:123456789

These aren't really Handles, since the global Handle system doesn't actually know about them

3 Steps to handle configuration

Configuring the Handles service

In order to use handle in DSpace, registration for a prefix with the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) is required

How to register with CNRI? Complete the registration form on the CNRI website Create & Upload the sitebndl.zip to CNRI Pay a small annual fee

http://www.handle.net/service_agreement.html

Generating the sitebndl.zip

The Site Bundle is an archive which contains information about your DSpace installation and is used to generate your handleTo generate the sitebndl.zip run the command:

[dspace]/bin/dsrun net.handle.server.SimpleSetup[dspace]/handle-server

You will be required to complete a series of questionsOnce completed the sitebndl.zip can be found:

[dspace]/handle-server/sitebndl.zip

Complete the registration and upload the sitebndl.zip

Configuring the Handle Server

Once registration is complete, a handle should be returned from CNRI

Edit the [dspace]/handle-server/config.dct to include the lines in the “server_config” clause:"storage_type" = "CUSTOM""storage_class" = "org.dspace.handle.HandlePlugin”

Update all references to YOUR_NAMING_AUTHORITY to your assigned handle: 300:0.NA/YOUR_NAMING_AUTHORITY -> 300:0.NA/2097

Configuring the Handle Server

Updating the Handle Prefix

Edit [dspace]/config/dspace.cfg and update the handle prefix

A restart of Tomcat will be requiredIf items have already been deposited into DSpace their handle will need updating

[dspace]/bin/update-handle-prefix 123456789 YourHandle

Starting the Handle Server

Finally start the handle server

[dspace]/bin/start-handle-server

A script will be required to automate the starting of the handle server upon a server boot

Once configured the handles should resolve as the practical demonstrated earlier in this module

Workflow scenarios

Scenario 1: Head of research

I want to be able to see everything my researchers deposit for quality

control purposes

Workflow scenarios

Scenario 2: Repository manager

I want to approve everything that goes in to the repository to make

sure there are no copyright issues or bad metadata

Workflow scenarios

Scenario 3: Cataloguer

I want to be able to see everything my researchers deposit for quality

control purposes

The three workflowsDSpace has three workflow steps1. Accept/Reject Step

2. Accept/Reject/Edit Metadata Step

3. Edit Metadata Step

You can use any combination of the three Steps are worked through in order

Which might be used in each of the previous scenarios?

RSS feedsRSS feeds– Site level (all new items)

– Community level (new items in all contained collections)

– Collection level (new items in that collection)

Can be read in modern web browsers

Can be subscribed to in news reader software

Alerts

Alerts– Created by users– Created for a collection– Emails sent each day for new items– Script must run daily:

• [dspace]/bin/sub-daily

DSpace statistcis

DSpace statistics:– Collated from DSpace log files– Reports generated daily (daily and monthly

reports)– http://dspace.example.com/dspace/statistics

• Or via the Administer menu

– Can be private (must be logged in) or public• In dspace.cfg:

– report.public = [true|false]

Statistics collected

The following statistics are collected– General overview (e.g. number of items

archived / number of item views / user logins)– Archive Information (numbers of each type of

item)– Item view counts– Actions performed– Search terms used

Google Analytics

Google Analytics allow a richer and more detailed suite of statistics

• Time visitors spent on the site

• Where they came from• Terms they used in search engines to find items• The geographic location of visitors• How many pages they looked at

• Which pages they started and ended their visit on

– JSPUI requires a small code change, Manakin has a configurable option.

Credits

These slides have been produced re-using The DSpace Course by:– Stuart Lewis & Chris Yates

– Repository Support Project http://www.rsp.ac.uk/

– Part of the RepositoryNet

– Funded by JISChttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/

Thank you! Questions?