Why is PALS looking at Islandora?
There is growing concern among institutions of all types about the preservation of information – in both digital and physical forms. Paper becomes unreadable; photos fade; digital, audio, and video content are inaccessible because devices become obsolete (i.e. cassette tapes and floppy disks); information is located on a faculty member’s hard drive where it is not accessible and may be at risk of being lost. In addition, with users expecting easy access to information of all types, there is a desire to make more information readily available. This includes institutional archives, research data, historical information, and local publications. Another area that is rapidly changing is that of publishing. In the near future, researchers will be looking for a tool to assist with collaboration and open publishing.
Some institutions are in the early stages of creating digital archives using software such as ContentDM or DSpace. Some researchers have IT support or a graduate student to help them manage their data. But many don’t have the tools to manage these types of projects. There is a real need for assistance in this area, and it seems like a service that would fit the PALS mission.
We are very early in the investigation, but Islandora looks promising. We have a test server up and running and can load objects into a demo repository. One thing I learned at camp is that, depending on how we use it, Fedora can have a big learning curve. Luckily, there are experts at the University of Prince Edward Island and Discovery Garden to help us out.
If you find yourself with a project that requires a digital asset management system, we may be looking for guinea pigs, I mean, volunteers, to help us explore the possibilities that Islandora may have.
mnpals 