Digital Library Development
Annual Report 2008 – 2009
The mission of Digital Library Development was to coordinate the research,
development and implementation of digital library tools and technologies in support
of the delivery and preservation of Georgia Tech’s digital assets. On July 1, 2009,
the assignments and goals of the department were transferred between Systems,
Scholarly Communication and Digital Services, Archives, and Data Curation Services.
The department managed the technical development of SMARTech and other digital
repositories supported by the Georgia Tech Library. We supervised the
implementation and development of software in support of digital collections and
scholarly communication initiatives, such as electronic publishing. DLD collaborated
closely with both DigiTech and the Repositories Development Team (RDT) to plan,
prioritize and complete digital library projects.
In 2009, a significant amount of staff resources was dedicated to preparations for
the Open Repositories ’09 conference, including design of the printed program and
other conference publications, planning and leading poster minute madness, and cocoordinating conference volunteers. The department’s biggest challenge was an
insufficient number of technical staff to accomplish a growing portfolio of
development and customization projects.
Accomplishments 2008 – 2009
Empowering and Developing Library Staff while Promoting Internal
Communication and Collaboration
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Led a series of interviews for two newly created technical positions: Digital
Library Software Developer and Digital Library Web Developer.
In November 2008, Patrick Etienne joined the department for OCS/OJS and
DSpace/Manakin development.
Worked jointly with DigiTech and the Repositories Development Team to
determine technical development of digital initiatives. All minutes were posted
to libSHARE for review and comment.
DLD staff expanded the following skills sets: PHP 5, Smarty template engine,
DSpace Cocoon pipeline architecture, LDAP programming with Java, and
Apache Maven.
Engaged in planning for a library-wide mentoring program.
Partnerships: Collaborating to Educate, Advocate and Promote
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Participated in the GALILEO Knowledge Repository – a statewide metadata
repository and hosting service for USG institutional repositories: edited IMLS
grant narrative; conducted comparison of collaborative repositories; recreated the GKR Conceptual Model using DSpace 1.5/Manakin.
With RDT, acquired responsibility for Georgia Tech contributions to the
MetaArchive Cooperative.
Participated on the Open Repositories Host Committee; planning and
coordination activities included the development of conference publications,
and co-organization of conference volunteers.
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Participated in Digital Media Projects Group – a partnership with OIT to
provide additional access to digital media; developed iTunesU RSS feed for
videos housed in SMARTech (not implemented).
Assisted in coordination of the OLE Regional Workshop, including the
documentation of workshop activities. Participated in workshop.
Met with University of Illinois and University of Wisconsin-Madison developers
concerning the open source library software BibApp.
Developing, Managing and Making Accessible Library Collections
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Conducted planning and initial programming for campus integration of
DSpace authentication and authorization.
Upgraded Archivists’ Toolkit. Contributed to maintenance of the Archivists’
Toolkit and EAD Publisher.
Installed and configured BibApp for evaluation.
Facilitated development of the metadata crosswalk from SMARTech to VUFind,
with designated conversions for ETDs and OSP Research Reports.
Participated on MetaLib, EPIC and VUFind committees. Assisted with
repository/catalog workflow decisions.
Prepared Google Analytics accounts for GT Digital Collections; made ITID
Google Analytics account available to editors.
Initiated planning for digital collections software implementation.
Expanding, Preserving and Promoting Digital Repositories and Services
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Implemented DSpace Configurable Browse modifications for SMARTech.
Planned DSpace Configurable Submission modifications for SMARTech.
Upgraded SMARTech and GFTR systems to versions 1.5, 1.5.1 and 1.5.2;
addressed bugs and related upgrade issues, such as forwarding the new OAI
URL and repairing the DSpace statistics feature.
Provided services for SMARTech enrichment, including batch metadata
modifications, database queries, and fixing access and display issues (e.g.,
installing Google sitemap, instituting a cron job for collection item counts,
working on Unicode and Microsoft character display issues).
Developed a fully functional Manakin theme (interface) for SMARTech, based
upon current GT web presence. Conducted preliminary discussions and
planning for SMARTech Manakin implementation.
Created and implemented test plan for SMARTech upgrades.
Evaluated and revised SMARTech and GFTR cron jobs.
Initiated discussions concerning SMARTech usability testing; documented
proposals in libSHARE.
Facilitated establishment of SMARTech 1.5 test instance with full asset store
(implemented by Systems).
Worked to develop harvesting system for OSP Technical Reports and related
metadata (not implemented).
Initiated planning and coding for lightweight reporting application for
SMARTech.
Rewrote SMARTech LOCKSS plugins to correct MetaArchive load and reliability
problems.
Investigated methods for harvesting DSpace for LOCKSS; began
implementation of a new OAI-based SMARTech plugin.
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Conducted planning for the re-structuring of SMARTech MetaArchive Archival
Units (collections for digital preservation).
Made modifications to GFTR, including de-spidering, interface changes, and
initial programming for authentication/authorization.
Developed new GKR Conceptual Model using DSpace 1.5/Manakin.
Deposited and organized digital library systems in Subversion (version control
system), including OJS and OCS instances, DSpace instances, Archivists’
Toolkit and EAD Publisher.
Used Subversion to aid in system code changes, upgrades and bug fixes.
Collaborated on ITID 2.0 rollout; made modifications and customizations to
software; upgraded software; created cron job for ITID registrations.
Coordinated upgrades of ITID and The Tower to OJS 2.2 and 2.2.1; supported
new 2.2.2 OJS instance – International Journal of Facilities Management.
Developed infrastructure for OCS support: established written guidelines for
installation, developed policies on customization and enhancement requests,
organized existent instances, and created upgrade plan.
Supported numerous OCS instances during the fiscal year; performed bug
fixes, upgrades, installation, organization and deletion of instances.
Created departmental documentation in libSHARE, including formal policies
and project updates.
Created framework for prioritization of development projects and requests;
established guidelines and tools for project tracking.
Actively engaged with the open source community – contributed to library
and open source software discussion lists; attended digital library and library
technology conferences, including the Open Repositories ’09 conference.
Professional Development
Conferences/Meetings:
ASIS&T Annual Meeting
MetaArchive Technical Workshop
Code4Lib Conference
OLE Regional Workshop
Community Approaches to Digital
Preservation
MetaArchive Steering Com. Mtg.
Open Repositories 2009
DigCCurr Digital Curation
Professional Institute
NDIPP Partners Meeting
Education:
6 OOD Courses
Publications:
Guide to Distributed Digital
Preservation
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson
Patrick Etienne
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson
October 2008
October 2008
February 2009
February 2009
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson
Patrick Etienne
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
April 2009
May 2009
Bill Anderson
June 2009
Susan Parham
6/08 – 6/09
Susan Parham (co-editor)
2009
February 2009
June 2009
Committees:
ALA Poster Review Panel
ASIS&T Poster Review Panel
ASIS&T SIG-DL Communications
Officer
Committee on Appointment,
Promotion & Cumulative Review
Data Curation Working Group
Digital Collections Archivist Search
Committee
Digital Library Development
Systems Analyst I –Search Com.
Digital Library Development
Systems Analyst II – Search Com.
DigiTech
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
2009
2009
2008 – 2009
Susan Parham
2007 – 2009
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
Current
2009
Bill Anderson (member)
Susan Parham (chair)
Bill Anderson (member)
Susan Parham (chair)
Bill Anderson (member)
Patrick Etienne (member)
Susan Parham (co-chair)
Susan Parham
2008
Susan Parham
Current
Current
VUFind
Bill Anderson
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson
Susan Parham
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson
Susan Parham
Bill Anderson (member)
Patrick Etienne (member)
Susan Parham (chair)
Susan Parham
Other:
ISD Reference Desk
Bill Anderson
EPIC: electronic products
integration committee
GALILEO Knowledge Repository
Steering Committee
GALILEO Knowledge Repository
Technical Committee
Mentoring Working Group
Mentoring Program Committee
MetaLib Group
MetaArchive Cooperative
MetaArchive Preservation Com.
Open Repositories ’09 Host
Committee
Open Repositories ’09 Poster
Review Panel
Repositories Development Team
RATS Week Volunteer
Bill Anderson
Susan Parham
2008
Current
2008
2009
2008
Current
Current
2008 – 2009
2009
2008