Here’s the latest from the ScholarWorks project and the Digital Repositories Committee.
Development
Notch8 completed their first development project in May, integrating a new image processor designed to speed-up our data migration process. Together with an upgrade to Ghostscript, the software used to extract text from PDFs, the new code processes PDF files at least two (and up to 20) times faster than before, significantly shortening our migration times.
We’ve completed the installation and preparation of our new Handle server, as well as developed a Ruby code library to access it. This is the first step in allowing ScholarWorks to mint persistent URLs for new submissions. Notch8 will look to complete the integration in early June.
The Chancellor’s Office has begun work on batch metadata import and export functionality for ScholarWorks. Patterned after a similar process in DSpace, this will allow campuses to edit the metadata for all of their submissions using a simple spreadsheet. We’ve already completed some data normalization tasks for Chico using this process. This feature will also lay the groundwork for batch uploading of new submissions into ScholarWorks.
In consultation with the Metadata Working Group, we’ve also made several changes to the submission forms, including adding new resource types, reverting the controlled vocabulary of the degree level field to its prior version, removing the FAST auto-complete feature for the subject field, and resolving some RDF identifier conflicts. You can track these and other requested metadata changes on the Trello board.
Data migration
We’ll be wrapping up the production data load for Fresno the first week of June, right on schedule.
We recently completed a test load for Los Angeles, which included a new process to locate and fill in any missing data in the DSpace record from the original Proquest ETD Administrator SWORD submissions. This allows us to add keywords, department, advisor, committee member, and other metadata to thousands of records. We’ll be looking to use this process for other campuses that use ETD Administrator as well.
In June, we’ll be running the production data load for Los Angeles and Pomona, as well as restarting the production data load for San Francisco. We’ve begun the data mapping work for Northridge and Humboldt.
Digital Repositories Committee
As we prepare for the next academic year, we’ve already filled next year’s appointments for the Digital Repository Committee. Daina Dickman from Sacramento is our new “at-large” member and joins the steering committee.
New appointments for the Metadata Working Group include Hema Ramachandran from Long Beach, Julie Dinkins from Sonoma, Melissa Seeyle from San Francisco and Nicole Shibata from Northridge.
New appointments for the Digital Archives Working Group (DAWG) include Azalea Camacho from Los Angeles, Eric Milenkiewicz from San Bernardino, and Elizabeth Blackwood from Channel Islands.
Digital Collections / Archives
DAWG is continuing to develop a plan for a systemwide Digital Collections / Archives implementation. The plan includes a campus self-assessment tool for digital collections production, Samvera/Hyrax test installations at 1-3 campuses which may be available for other campuses to use, a DAMS performance evaluation tool for test installations and general implementation of digital collections, and an investigation of digital preservation services.
Finally, we will be replacing the scholarworks@lists.calstate.edu listserv with a new one, digrepo@lists.calstate.edu, reflecting a broader scope of discussion beyond the institutional repository. We’ll be populating the new list with all of the members of the old list, as well as from the new Campus Repository Personnel Registry.