Open-Source, Open-Access Digital
Archives in the Sunshine:
A Review of Current Initiatives
in Florida’s Public Universities
Kelsey Adams and Mia Tignor
School of Information, University of South Florida
James Anthony Schnur
Special Collections and University Archives
Nelson Poynter Memorial Library
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
Early Automation Trends
The old “card” catalog, March 1986, shortly before the
arrival of LUIS, the online Library User Information System.
Barcoding “party” in 1985, before LUIS online
system became fully operational in Florida’s SUS
Offering a demo of LUIS,
the Library User
Information System, 1986
End of the “card” catalog at USF St. Petersburg, 1990
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
13 July 1997
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
13 July 1997
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
28 April 1999
Early databases of digital
collections and resources
available through WebLUIS
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
12 January 1998
Wayback Machine
Snapshot from
24 December 1997
Wayback Machine
Snapshot from
24 December 1997
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
31 January 1998
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
31 January 1998
Portal to all libraries of the University of South Florida
system through the USF Virtual Library project, 1999
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
2 October1999
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
24 April 1999
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
27 April 1999
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
9 February 1998
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
9 February 1998
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
23 July 2001
Wayback
Machine
Snapshot from
13 February 2004
Open Access Software in Florida University
Special Collections & Archives:
An Exploratory Survey
Mia Tignor and Kelsey Adams
METHODOLOGY
A five minute questionnaire designed as an exploratory survey to evaluate
what software for content management in digital collections and archives are
already in place and to gauge the satisfaction of these programs was sent to
all 11 Florida public universities (below) and the Florida Center for Library
Automation (FCLA):
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Florida A & M University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Gulf Coast University
Florida International University
Florida State University
New College of Florida
University of Central Florida
University of Florida
University of North Florida
University of South Florida
University of West Florida
RESULTS
Pros of Open Access
•Simplicity of use; both inputting and accessing
•Multiple functions
•Budget-friendly
•Community support
“…Dspace is easy to use, very intuitive and open source. It has a loyal and
well established network of fans and programmers throughout the world.”
“…All of these (open access) tools have large user communities that
provide new features/plugins and assistance with diagnosing and
troubleshooting problems.”
Cons of Open Access
•Technical skills
•Material formats vary
•Compatibility
“…although the source code is free, open source software frequently
requires other resources and expertise to implement, such as
programmers and system administrators, which can be more
expensive in the long run.”
Pros of Proprietary
•Familiarity
“…”the systems we have in place are appropriate for our present
staffing models and resources and generally allow staff to retrieve
materials in a timely and accurate manner.”
Cons of Proprietary
•Numerous limitations
•Cumbersome
“…without access to the source code, it’s very difficult to diagnose or fix
problems, It’s also impossible to develop new or improved features.”
“…we found the commercial tools like DigiTool, ContentDM and related to
be insufficient to our needs and so do not use them.”
IN THE FUTURE?
•FCLA/CCLA and Islandora
•Open Access + Proprietary
The USFSP Digital Archive
http://dspace.nelson.usf.edu
Example of
extracted text
from the original
document
Example of
corrected text to
promote access to
content in the
original document
Scanned document
Non-public bitstreams that document
our permission to provide open access
Non-public bitstreams that document
our permission to provide open access
Bitstreams safely
archived far away
from Tampa Bay!
Deeds of gift and donor paperwork
scanned and mounted in a non-public
area of the USFSP Digital Archive with
date and time stamps, in case
anything happens to the original
copies.
Future directions
Questions?