Building a Large Scale Open Source Repository at OhioLINK

A Cautionary Tale In Three Acts

2007 LITA National ForumThomas Dowlingtdowling@ohiolink.edu

Act IThe Plan(ca. 2006)

OhioLINK Digital Media Centerdmc.ohiolink.eduArt and Architecture1999: Art Collection (AMICO), Saskia2000: Art and Architecture from Univ of Cincinnati2001: Akron Art Museum Images2002: WPA Prints By Cleveland Artists

Video Collections2002: Foreign Language Instruction Videos2002: Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations2003: Educational Films And Documentaries (FFHS, Ambrose)

OhioLINK Digital Media Centerdmc.ohiolink.eduHistory and Archives2001: Wright Brothers Collection2001: E.W. Scripps Papers2001: Mayan Archeology Photos2001: Sanborn Historic Maps2002: Greek and Latin Inscriptions (squeezes)2003: Lake Eries Yesterdays2003: Natl Underground RR Freedom Ctr Images2004: Historic Maps of Akron2005: Kent State Shootings Oral Histories

Science Collections1999: Landsat Satellite Images of Ohio2003: Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics Digital Animal Sounds (1 | 2)2004: Geology Digital Photographs (1 | 2)2004: Ohio Ag Experiment Station Forestry Images2004: Reproductive Physiology Animations2004: Dolphin Embryos

Oh By The WayElectronic Journal Center: 9 million locally loaded journal articlesElectronic Theses and Dissertations: 12,000 ETDs from 17 schoolsCoupla thousand locally loaded e-books

~80 million records from A&I databases~10 million bib records in union catalog

OhioLINK Services, June 2006EJCDMCETDCIRCatalogA/I DBs

OhioLINK Services, June 2006EJCDMCETDCIRIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayIngest, Store, Search, DisplayIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayCatalogA/I DBs

OhioLINK Services, June 2006EJCDMCETDCIRIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayIngest, Store, Discover, DisplayCatalogA/I DBsCommercial, Propietary

OhioLINK Services, June 2008EJC

DRC

ETDC

IRIngest

Store

Discover

DisplayCatalogA/I DBsOpen Source

Open Source AdvocacyThe Early Days

Why Open Source?Beyond EvangelismBest of breed softwareServer software: Apache, TomcatRepository: FedoraMiddleware: XTF, DLXSSearch: Lucene, SolrXML Tools, programming languagesFreedom to play (Freedom to fail?)

Why Open Source?The Received Wisdom

Why Open Source?The Situation At OhioLINK

Which Adds Up ToIngest: XML + HTTP + programming language of choiceRepository: FedoraDiscovery/Interface: XML +HTTP + XTF? DLXS? Web programming language of choice?Search: Lucene/Solr

Or In Other WordsJournal ContentJournal ContentJournal ContentE-Book ContentImage DatabaseDissertationResearch ReportIngesterIngesterIngesterIngesterIngesterIngesterIngesterFedora RepositoryUser InterfacesSolr IndexMetasearchXMLXSLTPerlPHPRuby

Act IIReality Rears Its Ugly Head

The Thing About Conference PlanningOhioLINK, the Ohio Library and Information Network, has embarked on a large-scale project to migrate several major digital library services from disparate, commercial/proprietary platforms to a unified repository architecture built with open source tools.

Faithfully submitted, Thomas Dowling December 15, 2006

DeadlinesE-Journals commercial software support officially ends December 2006.Image databases software license and Sun server maintenance renewals due January 2007. E-Books ~7500 books licensed in Fall, 2006.Institutional repository First collection due in September 2007.

Full Steam SidewaysImage Collections: University of Michigan DLXSE-Books: CDL XTFInstitutional Repository: DSpaceE-Journals: ???ETDs: ??? (DSpace?)

Joy. Silos.

Act IIILessons [Eventually] Learned

Whats Wrong With This Plan?migrate several major digital library services from disparate, commercial/proprietary platforms to a unified repository architecture built with open source tools.

The best is the enemy of the goodVoltaire 16941778 Writer, Philosopher, IT Manager

One Repository To Rule Them AllAnd In The Darkness Bind Them