Introduction Greenstone Digital
Library Software
By
John K Thuku
At the Greenstone Training Workshop held at
Kenyatta University.
14-18th December 2010.
Introduction

Greenstone Digital Library Software
◦ Is an open source Digital Library collections
building and distribution software

License
◦ Freely available, Open Source Software (OSS)
◦ Issued under the terms of the GNU General
Public License.

Available
◦ http://www.greenstone.org
Definitions
Open source - refers to software that is
made available for free and that includes the
original (uncompiled) source code used to
create it so that users can freely modify it
 Collection – is an organized group of
objects (often digital information materials).

Development
First developed in 1996 by the New
Zealand Digital Library Project at the
University of Waikato’s Computer Science
Department.
 Greenstone 2.83 is the recent stable
version. Released in 2009…
 The latest version is Greenstone 3.

◦ It has many new functions but retained most
features in the previous versions.
◦ It has been on trial for about a year now.
Aims of Greenstone

It is aimed at helping libraries build their
own digital libraries so as to facilitate
resource:
◦
◦
◦
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Distribution
Sharing
Improving access
Conservation
Features of Greenstone

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Easy to install
Has an easy to learn interface
Supports multiple types of documents
◦ Doc, pdf, html, text, image files, video
◦ Able to handle large number of objects
It is customizable
 Supports z39.50 protocol
 Supports multiple languages
 Supports several metadata sets

◦ E.g. Dublin Core, Marc 21
Features, contd…

Supports protocol both as client and as server,
thus:
◦ The collection is easily distributed on CDs and other
portable storage media.
◦ The collection can run easily locally on a CD or a PC,
or remotely on a Server.

The collection provides various search methods:
◦ Browse – title, author, subjects.
◦ Keywords – bibliographic fields, index terms as well as
fulltext.
◦ Boolean.
◦ Wildcard.
Features, contd…

Interoperable
◦ Supports Open Archives Initiatives - Protocol
Metadata Harvesting. (OAI-PMH).
◦ Metadata can be shared to external search
engines.
◦ Possible to export collection to or import
from Dspace.
General Requirements

Greenstone DL Software is multiple platform and
runs on
◦ Windows, Linux & Mac operating systems

Hardware
◦ PC – Pentium IV, 256 MB Ram, 2 MHz

Supporting Software
◦ Web browser
◦ Java Runtime
◦ ImageMagic – for processing image files

Plug-ins
◦ Software modules that handle
 Format conversion
 Metadata extraction
Users

Greenstone has a wide user base. It is
used in:
◦ Many countries especially developing
countries
 Asia, South America and Africa
◦ Universities and other Tertiary Institutions
◦ Research Institutions
◦ International bodies, NGOs, CBOs
Support

Documentation – Mainly available from
the links at Greenstone DL Site:
◦
◦
◦
◦
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
Manuals
Demo collections
Wiki
Tutorial Exercises
FAQs
Workshops
◦ Institutional-based, national or regional
workshops
Support Contd…

Support Groups
◦ Southern African Greenstone Support
Network
http://www.eifl.net/cps/sections/services/eiflfoss/greenstone
◦ Greenstone Support for South Asia
http://greenstonesupport.iimk.ac.in
◦ Greenstone Support for South America
◦ Eastern African Greenstone Support … ?
Support Contd…

Mailing Lists
◦ Developers mailing list
 To discuss matters that relate to development of
Greenstone
◦ User list
 General discussion about Greenstone: features,
challenges,
◦ Support network
 Discussions, communications, news and announcements

Online Help
◦ Is available through the User and Librarians
Interface
Greenstone DL Interfaces

User Interface
◦ Web based
◦ Can be customized

Librarian Interface
◦ Allows collection development processes
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Download files for your collection
Gather documents to build the collection
Enrich content with metadata
Design appearance, searching & browsing facilities
Create or build the collection
Librarian Interface
User Interface
Collection Organization
Collection title & contacts
 Statement of collection’s purpose
 Statement of collection’s coverage
 Explanation of how collection is organized

Used

Greenstone has been used for
◦
◦
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Selected set of documents
Bibliographic collections
Institution repositories
Collection of image and multimedia files
Metadata
What is Metadata?
Different meanings in different
communities
 Information about information
 Can describe information at any level

◦ Collection
◦ Item
◦ Item within item

Can be embedded within an object or
separate from it
Types of Metadata

Descriptive
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Descriptive metadata helps users find and obtain objects, distinguish one object
or group of objects from one another, and discover the subject or contents.
Administrative
◦ Helps collection managers keep track of objects for such
purposes as file management, rights management, and
preservation.
Structural metadata
◦ Documents relationships within and among objects and
enables users to navigate complex objects, such as the
pages and chapters of a book.
Linking or relationship data
Principles of Metadata

Have a community standard
◦ Conforms to the needs of current and
potential users

Supports interoperability
◦ Distributed networked environment
◦ Find resources that are distributed across the
world’s libraries, archives, museums.

Includes a clear statement of the
conditions and terms of use for the digital
object.
Principles of Metadata …contd.

Supports the long-term management and
preservation of objects in collections.
Metadata and Cataloguing

Perception that cataloguing is old and
metadata is new
◦ Traditional cataloguing focuses on
descriptions of print materials
◦ Metadata focuses on management of
networked resources

For locally created or managed
networked resources (such as
repositories), cataloguing is insufficient
Metadata Schemes
Defines a collection of elements for
supporting a specific function
 Defines structures for element values
 Defines formal aspects of the element set,
such as name, definition, data type, etc.
 Some schemes are expressed as XML
schemas

Some Common Standards
Dublin Core
 MARC 21
 Metadata Encoding and Transmission
Standard (METS)

Dublin Core Element Set
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Title
Creator
Subject
Description
Publisher
Contributor
Date
Type
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Format
Identifier
Source
Language
Relation
Coverage
Rights
End