IIMKs Experience with Greenstone in Building Digital Library Collections
Dr. M.G. Sreekumar Centre for Development of Digital Libraries (CDDL) Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK)
Digital Libraries
Internet / Intranet
Multimedia Library Info System
Gateway-out Data capture
USER @ anywhere (access to information from anywhere)
Organizational Transformation in Libraries
Traditional / Automated
Organization is physical Shelving of documents - Based on Subject Cln Key - Index / Catalogues / Cards / Digital Catalgs Cards - Real/Virtual - Author, Title, Descriptions Organization in terms of digital files /objects Contains material digitized form Contains digital material Architecture Key - Metadata
Digital
Features of Digital Libraries
Dynamic Electronic Information Systems Seamless Aggregation and Integration of Scholarly Content Create / Maintain Local Content Strengthens - mechanisms and capacity Information Systems / Services Increase Portability Efficiency of Access Flexibility Availability Long term preservation UNESCO
Digital Library Technologies
Open architectures (Open DLs)
Componentized vs Monolithic systems
Interoperability (role of Z39.50, OAI etc.) Unified interface for heterogeneous libraries
Metadata mapping across different libraries
OAI-compliant data and service providers Multilingual digital libraries
Scalable digital library architectures
Publication tools Searching tools
Software Selection
Goals and Requirement Specification Proprietary Vs Open Source Fit the existing Information System Accommodate future migration Embrace all possible/predominant formats Support standard DL technologies/platforms Easy installation, population, maintenance Comprehensive Documentation Software Development Team Active User Groups, E-Mail Lists (Users / Developers)
What are digital libraries for?
Knowledge/content management
Manage and access internal information assets
Scholarly communication, education, research
E-journals, e-prints, e-books, data sets, e-learning
Access to cultural collections
Cultural, heritage, historical & special collections, museums, biodiversity
E-governance
Improved access to government policies, plans, procedures, rules and regulations
Archiving and preservation Many more
DL Software: Alternatives
What are your expectations? Develop local web-based application? Commercial DL solution? Adopt open source software?
Greenstone Eprints DSpace (CDS/ISIS, Koha)
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
Metadata The Basics: 22 Elements
Title Creator
Definition
Content
Responsibility
Manifestation
The name given to the resource by the creator or publisher The person responsible for the intellectual content of the resource Subject The Topic of the resource Description A textual description of the content of the source Publisher The Entity responsible for making the resource available Contributor A person or organization (other than the Creator) who is responsible for making significant contributions to the intellectual content of the resource Date A date associated with the creation or availability of the resource Type The nature or genre of the content of the resource Format The physical or digital manifestation of the resource Identifier An unambiguous reference that uniquely identifies the resource within a given context Source A reference to a second resource from which the present resource is derived Language The language of the intellectual content of the resource Relation A reference to a related resource, and the nature of its relationship Coverage Spatial locations and temporal durations characteristic of the content of the resource Rights Information about rights held in the resource
Greenstone DL Software
Overview of Features, Capabilities & Applications
What is the Greenstone software?
Software suite for building, maintaining, and distributing digital library collections Comprehensive, open-source Developed by New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato Distribution and promotion partners:
UNESCO Human Info NGO, Belgium NCSI, Bangalore; UCT, Cape Town; Dakar, Senegal; Almaty, Kazakhstan; You!
Greenstone Features contd...
Easy Installation Easy Maintenance Content Development (3 alternate ways) Predominantly GLI now - since (V. 2.41) Hierarchy Structure Interface Customization Front Page Design, Header for the Digital Library, Collection Icon, Cover Images Collection Configuration ([Link]) File Scalability, Flexibility Interoperability (Crosswalk), OAI Compliance Lifeline : Listserv / E-Group / Archives
GLI Functions
Establish new collection (or work on old) Select files to include in collection (Gather) Enrich files with metadata (Enrich) Select Plugins, Indexes, Classifiers (Design) Build Collection (Create) Customize Appearance Preview Collection
Create a new collection
Create: Build the collection
Preview: admire the result
Customization
Greenstone is specifically designed to be highly extensible and customizable. New document and metadata formats are accommodated by writing "plugins" (in Perl). Analogously, new metadata browsing structures can be implemented by writing "classifiers." The user interface look-and-feel can be altered using "macros" written in a simple macro language. A Corba protocol allows agents (e.g. in Java) to use all the facilities associated with document collections. Finally, the source code, in C++ and Perl, is available and accessible for modification
Customizing with macros
let you customize presentation present pages in different languages print variables into the page text
(e.g. number of search hits)
Macro files
stored in gsdl/macros folder each file defines one or more packages
(A package is a group of macros)
loaded on startup
(note difference between Local and Web Library)
listed in etc/[Link]
Collection-specific macros
Stored in gsdl/collect/mycol/macros/[Link] Or include argument [c=collectionname] for each macro
Personalizing your home page
C:\Program Files\gsdl\etc\[Link] change [Link] to [Link]
Hierarchy Structure
Documentation and help
Available at: [Link]
Software Demo collections FAQ Tutorial materials
Documentation:
Installers Guide, Users Guide, Developers Guide, From Paper to Collection
Mailing lists:
Greenstone Users List Greenstone Developers List
Documentation and help
Manuals on the CD-ROM (docs)
Installers Guide ([Link], 36pp)
Versions of Greenstone, installation procedure, Greenstone collections, setting up the web server, configuring your site, personalizing your installation
Users Guide ([Link], 90pp)
Overview of Greenstone, using Greenstone collections, the collector, administration, software features, glossary of terms
Developers Guide ([Link], 113pp)
Understanding the collection building process, getting the most out of your collections, the Greenstone runtime systems, configuring your Greenstone site
From Paper To Collection ([Link], 30pp)
Scanners and scanning, OCR, 3 examples from 1,000 to 100,000 pages, Creating an electronic collection
Documentation and help
[Link]
Download: software and tutorials Example collections Documentation FAQ: general info section support (+ join mailing list) Configuration files for [Link] collections
[Link]
Documentation collections Documented example collections
Documentation and help
Mailing Lists
Greenstone Users List
For people installing and using standard Greenstone Join at: [Link] Mail to: greenstone-users@[Link]
Greenstone Developers List
For people customizing their version of Greenstone Join at: [Link] Mail to: greenstone-devel@[Link]
Mailing List Archives
A Greenstone collection of mail from both mailing lists [Link]
