It’s a workflow engine. It’s working with linked data. It’s repository! – Supporting electronic thesis related processes in University of Helsinki library

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

DSpace Interest Group Presentations

24x7 Presentations

In repository talk, workflows are usually associated with either configurable submission forms or review steps required after the content is deposited. Since version 1.8 DSpace repository software has come bundled with general, albeit simple, workflow engine that can be used to drive long running and more complex processes that go beyond simple review case. This presentation describes the on-going work that aims to unify and digitize support for thesis related activities from evaluation and acceptance to public dissemination across all university’s 11 faculties. The idea is to increase the number of electronically available theses by tapping into the digital version as soon as possible. We will reflect on the benefits of going digital as well as report on the bumps found along the road. The repository runs in a complex environment and is supported by semantic wikis, plagiarism prevention system, national ontology services, CRIS, other DSpace repository and open data platform. Another main feature of the repository is the adoption of linked data. The repository consumes data from internal and external services and contributes to the linked data cloud by making its own metadata publicly available through centralized open data platform.