Hi Christophe,

I totally agree with your view and feel ashamed, because I promised in Göteborg to follow up on this. I checked with MacKenzie from MIT and planned to contact Valorie about how to best proceed with setting up a repository manager space using the new DuraSpace communication tools. Everything at my business is coming at the same time. I am afraid I can only help with some ideas how to set this up, but not drive it like a repository manager could.

Like we discussed in Göteborg I see two worlds which need their own language and roadmap development. I think technical DSpace world now being part of the
DuraSpace developments is going quite well. We lack a communication/organisation mechanism that allows repository managers to connect and share their ideas about a functional need roadmap and share best practices about organisation implementation and information management policies. Perhaps there is a repository network where this happens that I am not aware of. In any case this needs to be connected to the DuraSpace technology roadmap development. Especially now DSpace will be joined by the other DuraSpace developments.

The interesting development I see in my medical and (national) archive/records management environment is the need for the information (library/repository) managers to discuss with their management (Library manager and faculty Board/Dean/Department heads) how to change the behaviour to collaboratively feel responsible for curating their institutional (research) collections and share (parts of) it with their colleagues and consumers. The biggest challenge is the required organisational change and not the technology, although we of course need it to make things work. As a result the business (be it research or a public service) needs to define their information needs and the repository managers need to support them with this process. They together
define which information is valuable and needs to be curated, which are the key service performance measures and then sell the total information service to their management. If the process goes like this funding and investment in good software development will be assured.

I suggest the following follow up actions:
1. I'll check with Valorie what would be a good set of communication tools to support the repository manager space
2. We invite all repository managers to participate and hopefully find one (or preferably more) repository managers to drive the process and provide useful content.
3. I am thinking about a wiki where each repository manager puts his/her top 3 most important policy/roadmap documents on.
4. Set up a poll and ask what is the 'just enough' spec of D(ura)Space functionality (Forgetting about what we have today, but defining what the service needs to do)
5. Look in the DSpace community for best organisation/implementation practices, where repository and library manager are driving the change management process  in their institution.

I invite all DSpace-general mailing users to give comments and share their views on this important topic.

Have a nice day,

Peter

Christophe Dupriez wrote:
Hi Tim!

Here I would remind that, in Göteborg, Repository Managers told us that 
they should drive the specs (at the very least the needs assesment).

Any committee has been set up? Who follows up this committee at DSpace 
organization? When will be some reports to developpers community?

The response is propably "NO" to all these questions because Repository 
Managers are seing DSpace as a product like another, so they just want 
to switch if another product seems better.
They do not want to invest more than the strict efforts and money needed 
for cosmetic customization.

Not like the developper who invests him/herself in building a deep 
understanding of a given software to be efficient to adapt it to 
Repository Managers needs...

Am I wrong?  I hope somebody will demonstrate that I am really by taking 
the need assesment of Institutions on his/her shoulders.

Most of us work (directly or indirectly) for academic institutions 
fighting to be amongst the most recognized in the world.
The real problem being the general incapacity to achieve good 
repositories, the real mission of DSpace is to provide something to make 
those institutions succeed.

If we can make those institutions aware of the upmost importance to 
collaborate to build a common repository framework and best practices 
specification/evaluation network, then we will have really succeeded.

As computer scientists, we should not forget that DSpace was designed as 
a "just enough" product and it succeeded because of that.
So what is really "just enough" now???

Have a nice evening!

Christophe


Tim Donohue a écrit :
  
Here's another spin on this topic.

First off, I'd like to thank Bram for doing this analysis.  I think it's 
extremely beneficial for us all to take a step back every now and then, 
look at the broader picture, and especially take a close look at similar 
systems to see what we can learn from them.

Something that is also worth noting is that the folks who made IR+ used 
to use DSpace.  I think it's important to reflect on why they chose to 
build a different system, and what features they specifically added that 
either (a) were/are not available out-of-the-box in DSpace or (b) DSpace 
couldn't provide via integrations with complimentary systems/services.

I think in this discussion, Mark Wood and Graham Triggs bring up some 
valid implementation questions.  It's good to question whether DSpace 
should try and build in some of these feature, or alternatively 
integrate with other external systems/software which may better provide 
these features.  I feel it all comes back to whether we all feel DSpace 
should be the "one IR to rule them all", or whether it should better 
"plug into" a set of complimentary services at your institution or 
library.  I'll admit, the IR as just a piece in a "set of scholarly 
services" is something that has stuck with me from having worked 
alongside Sarah Shreeves at U of Illinois (she has been talking about 
and developing this idea for several years now).

So, I don't necessarily feel that DSpace should strive to be more like 
IR+ (or any other system for that matter). But I do feel we can learn 
from the great new features they've implemented (kudos to them!).  It's 
as good a point as any to step back and analyze where DSpace sits in the 
"IR space".  Perhaps even analyze whether there are core features DSpace 
is still missing, or whether more "hooks" into external systems could 
help DSpace become an integral piece in a set of scholarly services at 
your institution.

I don't have any answers here. :)  But, I'd love to hear others 
thoughts/ideas in this discussion.  In my mind, DSpace is really 
Community Software, so ideas/thoughts/brainstorms/visions from those in 
the community (i.e. you) help shape our future direction.

As we all know, DSpace 1.6 is just around the corner (still on track for 
a mid-Feb release).  But, that doesn't mean we cannot already start 
brainstorming for 1.7 (and beyond).

- Tim

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