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Repository Evaluation

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 4 months ago

[Update: We seem to be moving forward with SOL*R. I'm not going update this page much more.]

 

Kind of a dog's breakfast of ideas about what a repository could/should have ...

 

I'm starting with "Features for Searchability" because it seems key; after all, we are supposed to be "user-centred"! It seems the key issue is making this resource compelling enough that users (i.e. librarians) will come here. Once they've found the site useful, it's only a short step until they're posting their own material.

 

 

FeaturePrioritySOLRANTSCORIL
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Features for Searchability ----
Guest vs. Authenticated Search??Unless you log in, the default search shows only objects with a Creative Commons license. This is Not Good, in my opinion. Forcing users to have a password in order to see the "good stuff" is quite a hurdle to get them across. Unless all our objects have the CC license, of course.Dspace. Open to all.Dspace. Open to all.
SearchHighSeveral search modes including basic KW, guided, and "power". The latter offers lots of check-boxes and drop-downs to narrow the search. I assume they are all KW searching the metadata, not the objects themselves. Later note: I could be wrong, it could be KW searching everything.Keyword.Keyword.
Other search features??Quotes to phrase search; Boolean; truncation; synonym search. Wow!Not clearNot clear
Results sortingHighTitle, Date, Rank, Rating. Don't know how the last two work.NoneNone
BrowseMediumSeveral browse options including by discipline, institution, program, or license type. Probably not useful to us.Browse by title, author, subject, dateBrowse by title, author, subject, date
--Overall I have my concerns. Our objects are lost amid everything else in SOLR, and there's no sense of "community" here. See my section below about community.Pretty good ...Pretty good ...
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Features for Uploading Materials----
Accepts all file types librarians might use for instructional materials: .doc, .pdf, html, .swf (Flash), .zip, .ppt, videosHighYesNO! Sadly, they only want animated tutorials built in Qarbon Viewlet. LATE BREAKING NEWS: It appears that just this month they have decided to allow other types of content.Seems to accept all.
Accepts URLs, where the original object lives on the library's own serverHighYesNot sure, doubtful.Not sure, doubtful.
Accepts IMS Content Package modules (that what you can be export from Learning Management Systems like WebCTHighYesNot sureNot sure.
The uploading procedure is reasonable: straightforward, not too complex or demanding.HighLooks ok, but I don't know what counts as "reasonable" to most people.Not sure.Not sure.
Uploader can input un-controlled metadata.HighYes -- title, short description, plus free keywords (although it's a little annoying, because you have to hit Add word by word).Yes -- title, abstract, keywords.Yes -- title, abstract, keywords.
Useful fields of controlled/structured metadata.MediumLots -- discipline, target grade/year, "resource type", file format, length of time to use resourceFile Type, Contact Information, Viewing Time and Intended Audience (i.e Undergrads)Assume same as ANTS.
Custom classification system suitable for librarian LOWould be niceCould ask for this in the future.NoNo.
Intellectual property controlHighTwo licenses to choose from, BC Commons or Creative Commons. The former is problematic: the resource will only be displayed to users with BCcampus accounts, quite a barrier.Creative Commons onlyI assume CC.
Account and role control??BCcampus manages accounts. An account is necessary to upload objects. Less than ideal if we'd like librarians from outside BC to store objects here (and why wouldn't we?).Have to get a DSpace account; probably not difficult.Have to get a DSpace account; probably not difficult.
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Interoperability with other repositories---
Can expose our LO metadata to be harvested by another repository??YesSince it's DSpace, probably possible. But Scott says he can't grab them.Presumably "yes".
Can harvest metadata from related repositories and include in our search results??Scott has a harvester.Doubtful.Doubtful.
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Community features----
As stated above, it's my view that the tool becomes much more compelling if we have a kind of "community portal" -- a website where librarians could come and search for material in our own section of the repository. Features could include: a search box with two radio buttons: "Search this community" and "Search all of SOL*R"; our own logo (next to the SOL*R logo, of course); possibly a browse feature for our custom classification system; auto-generated stats: "top-five downloaded objects", "newest five objects", etc.; a place for announcements; a place for links and other text High, I thinkSOLR alas has none of these features at present.See the ANTS homepage for the kinds of community features I'm interested in. It has "Recent Items", an RSS feed of new items, and links to related resources.Similar to ANTS.
Community editors can "vet" objects.Not sure. Would we want this?No.Don't know.Has a peer-review stream.

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