Prior to this week, the only way I've ever evaluated software was to offer my opinion as to whether or not a software package met my needs. It was actually quite interesting to drill down and see what a software project is all about! Here is my conclusion:
Dspace would be an excellent software choice for digital archives. There are many positive reasons to choose Dspace, and the few negative issues are likely to exist with any other project, and can be addressed and resolved with minimal difficulty. Dspace meets all criteria of the Open Source Software Maturity Model evaluation and is recommended for implementation. The first step of this implementation should be the Dspace Early Adopter Program, which will allow a pilot project for a trial period on a small scale to ensure the suitability of the software for this institution by task based user testing.
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9 comments:
Hi Judy:
I didn't do my evaluation on dSpace but I did arrive at a similar conclusion - that a small trial is really the smartest and most practical "next step" when contemplating the adoption of an open source software integrated library system. Perhaps, that is the value of open source software, you can safely try it out on a stand alone machine before implementing it for real.
I evaluated Koha and was really surprised by the amount of information and support around this product. I agree that there would be problems implementing a new system, proprietary or open source. I think that the mantra 'you get what you pay for' is the lesson with open source. The code may be free, but you still need dedicated resources supporting its implementation and maintenance.
I am also in agreement that one of the nicest features of open source software is that you can try it out. What we have here is not only exercise in learning how to write software reviews but also a way of getting to know more about what's out there. I know nothing about DSpace (coming from a humanities background, I was drawn to Greenstone like a moth to open flame) but I discovered that work is being done so that DSpace and Greenstone users can move from one platform to the other? (Witten, Bainbridge, Tansley, Huang, & Don, 2005). I am shocked to see all this collaboration! Some would probably argue that I should be shocked that I'm shocked that such collaborations are currently underway.
Hi Judith,
Re: Your comment on my little TSpace article. Yes, as usual we are getting in our own way when it comes to technology or just doing things differently. I think the problem with DSpace and user apathy is that many Profs - especially the tenured ones - are very old school. Hopefully as us 'younger' ones start populating academia, we can start to use these new tools and really open education up. I know I am looking foward to it!
Hi,
I did my evaluation on Koha, so I am interested to know the other two open source software. I checked several blogs to find this one evaluation on dSpace. Thank you for your evaluation, so I learned something on this software.
I like the small trial feature for open source software.
Do you know how software developers communicate with their users? I am wondering how these programmers know what they need to do to improve the software. I can't find out how Koha developers communicate with its users, so I want to know if other open source software does better than Koha.
Judith
Good conclusions! I did my evaluation on Greenstone but Dspace looks pretty solid as well. My only concern is how much does it *really* cost, but other than that, open source looks really promising!
It is really useful that OSS like dSpace allows for trials, especially with digital archives that are still being evaluated - and it is particularly useful to organizations to test out new systems before committing to something potentially ineffective. Nice evaluation.
Hi Judith,
I also reviewed DSpace. I recommended that a full out committee look more seriously into its implementation. Once an extensive survey could be conducted to determine the university's needs, a trail stage would be the next logical step.
I was interested to find an example of a DSpace proposal (for a large organization) that placed the total cost of ownership at $285,000!
I still recommended the software though, presuming that my "boss" is running a similarly large library, would have access to major funding, and that the university's reputation would benefit from having its research be more visible.
Hi Judy (and everyone else who has commented on this post!). I evaluated Greenstone for this assignment, and like you, I decided a pilot project would be the best way to go, simply because of issues related to training and support. I found some hints that training and support for Greenstone might be a problem (including a very interesting usability test that was conducted by the development team using comp sci students as guinea pigs). I never really made the connection though that the ability to try it out is only really available if the software is free to download. I'll have to try out Greenstone myself some time, since I am able! Perhaps to make a digital library of all the vintage knitting patterns currently cluttering my shelves?
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