ABCD Open Source Software for managing ETD repositories

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ABCD Open Source Software for Managing ETD Repositories

Presented by,

Ms. Sangeeta N Dhamdhere, India

Dr. Egbert De Smet, Belgium

Dr. Ramdas Lihitkar, India

Presented at

ETD 2013 Symposium

University of Hong Kong Libraries, Hong Kong

Overview

1. Introduction2. Institutional/Digital Repository3. ETD Repository and Initiatives4. ABCD Open Source Software5. Technical Features of ABCD Software for ETD Repository Application 6. Illustrations and conclusion

1. Introduction2. Institutional/Digital Repository3. ETD Repository and Initiatives4. ABCD Open Source Software5. Technical Features of ABCD Software for ETD Repository Application 6. Illustrations and conclusion

Introduction

Open Access Initiative has removed barriers to accessing scholarly literature and hence avoiding duplication of research work and plagiarism. OAI has its roots in the Open Access and Institutional Repository (IR) movements. It develops and promotes interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination and long-term access to scholarly literature. The IRs are playing an important role in giving access to electronic resources in different format including scholarly publications.Purpose of this paper:To give technical information about the application of ABCD Open Source Software for managing IR of Electronic Theses and Dissertations at various levels with illustrations. Methodology used:Practical method and programming in the ABCD software for building ETD repository and its management

Institutional/Digital Repository

An Institutional Repository is a digital research archive consisting of accessible collections of scholarly work that represent the intellectual capital of an institution.

We can say IR as a web-based database (repository) of scholarly material.

IR collects, stores and disseminates digital resources and efforts made for long term preservation of organizational or institutional intellectual property in digital form

ETD Repository

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) is an electronic repository system which comprises information such as concepts and outputs of the latest researches produced by scholars during their process of cognition, exploration and analysis.These ETD Repositories are managed by using digital library software or content management softwares in many organizations.

Open Source Softwares commonly used for ETD Management all over world are

Green-

Stone

Eprint

Fedora

AB

CD

i-tor,

Drupal

Dspace,

CD

Sw

are

ABCD Open Source Software

Automation of liBraries and Centres for Documentation (ABCD)

Not just library automation, higher level of flexibility and diversity of use. FOSS-project by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) with BIREME (WHO/Brazil)

The project was led by Ernest Spinak and Egbert De Smet of the University of Antwerp.

The software entails, as a 'software suite' like e.g. Microsoft Office, modules for database administration (definitions of storage and indexing structures, data-entry, searching, import-export etc.), loans administration, serials management, online end-user searching (OPAC) and portal with integrated meta-search and Content Management System/Institutional repository system.

Continued…

First release 1.0 December 2009, This release of the software is still being developed towards its final version 1.3 likely to be release in October 2013, and the new release 2.0 with new functions like full-text indexing, online document delivery services and Unicode, meanwhile many libraries are experimenting with it or using it, mostly in Latin America but also in e.g. East-Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique).

It name itself suggests this wide variety of usage, from libraries using international standards (ABCD offers MARC21 and CEPAL and others like DUBLIN CORE, UNIMARC and AGRIS), to very much localized non-library structures for managing even museum objects catalogs or archive systems.

Technical features making ABCD suitable for ETD Repository applications

Freedom of database structure : ABCD offers flexibility to create full text database of ETD using existing MARC 21 format, CEPAL, Dublin Core or users can create new databases from scratch using ISIS Field Definition Tables and its powerful Formatting Language. This is a rather unique feature of this software. Not many other softwares provide such flexibility for database management. It supports therefore all standards and non-standards.

Adding New ETD Repositories from the Scratch

User can create and add as many databases (ETD or any type) on one platform and manages them separately in the ABCD Central module but keep them within one single searching environment (the 'meta-search') in the ABCD-Site for end-users.

ETD Database from the existing standard formats

The software allows users to use MARC-21 (or UNIMARC) cataloguing formats, LILACS, AGRIS, CEPAL. Other standards available are Dublin Core, METS, Z39.50, ISAD/G; from version 2 – Unicode encoded databases are possible.

MARC 21 – ETD Database

CEPAL Format for ETD Database

CEPAL Database support to create an excellent ETD database with full text access.

Illustration

Full text Indexing capability

Since ABCD is based on PHP for the web-interface creation, some nice PHP-tools are embedded. E.g. FckEditor is a PHP-library offering a full HTML-editor which can be embedded into a cataloging form to create full documents. Text from Word-documents can be 'copy-pasted' into a field of an ISIS-record by using this tool. The field will be presented as a web (HTML) document but keeping the word-indexing technique for retrieval. In new version 2.0 the file-upload mechanism adds a 'text-extractor' (for PDF 'pdftohtml.exe' is used, for other formats the java-based 'tika' tool), which takes the text-contents of any document and this then is stored into one or more ISIS-records

The use of non-latin scripts

ABCD, as a web-based software, can use (from v2.0) non-latin scripts (e.g. Amharic, Chinese, Greek, Sanskrit,...) as part of the web-browser capabilities

Integrated end-user full text search Alphabetical and by URL

OAI-Metadata Harvesting Protocol

ABCD offers a module which allows to access its databases through the OAI-Metadata Harvesting Protocol, with the implementation of the 6 main verbs, as illustrated below. Alternatively the URL's created by the interface can also be used to be sent directly to the ABCD-server for incorporation of the results (as a text-file with XML-tags) into other systems.

Dublin Core database with a search in iAH (the OPAC) with Unicode support

Sample Site

Demo

ABCD Demo

Let's have a look at how ABCD software works for ETD management

Conclusion

For creating ETD repositories and union catalogue of ETDs the new 2.0 version of ABCD open source software is being fully ready for all library communities free of cost with all international standards inbuilt.

With less knowledge of programming library professionals can build their digital repositories and give full or partial access. This software allows accessing its databases through the OAI-Metadata Harvesting Protocol too.

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