Tutorial 6A: DSpace 1.5: Moving towards the DSpace of the future
Half Day

DSpace 1.5 represents a big step towards the future of DSpace software. Are you still trying to wrap your mind around 1.5 or wanting to ready yourself for an upgrade? Get a better understanding of the new DSpace 1.5 architecture, features and configurations! Learn how to take advantage of the Configurable Submission system, the Configurable Browse system, Manakin and many other new features. Even if you are familiar with past versions of DSpace, you’ll want to brush up on these new features in order to get the most out of DSpace 1.5. If you’re newer to DSpace, this tutorial can still give you a better understanding of the improvements that have gone into DSpace 1.5, and the roadmap for the future. Although this tutorial may touch on pre-1.5 DSpace features, it will concentrate on those newly available in 1.5. This introductory tutorial assumes some general knowledge of DSpace or Java. Familiarity with basic Unix commands, HTML and XML is recommended, though not required.

Learning objectives:

• Understand new features available in DSpace 1.5, and the basics of configuring and using them.
• Understand newly available DSpace 1.5 web interfaces
• Get a basic understanding of Maven and new DSpace architecture
• Learn about the upgrade process and how to plan for it
• Know where to go to modify specific aspects of a DSpace 1.5 installation
• Understand DSpace 1.5 “overlays” and how to perform basic customizations of your DSpace site
• Understand why the DSpace community is important, and how to give back
• Learn where to go for more information or help when working with DSpace
• Learn the differences between the JSP user interface and the new Manakin XMLbased interface, and how to make an informed decision between them.

Target audience:
Librarians and staff planning or running DSpace installations who want a better understanding of the new 1.5 release. The tutorial concentrates on those already familiar with DSpace, and potentially even running DSpace 1.4.x (or earlier).

Level of Experience: 
Introductory to intermediate-level. Basic Unix, HTML and XML familiarity is useful, though not required. No Java, JSP, or CSS knowledge is assumed.

Presenter:
Tim Donohue is the Technology Lead for IDEALS (http://ideals.uiuc.edu), the digital repository for the scholarship and research taking place at the University of Illinois. In 2006, he was appointed a Code Committer for DSpace open source software. He received his Masters in Library & Information Science from U of I in 2005. Along with colleagues Dorothea Salo and Scott Phillips, Tim has taught several “Making DSpace Your Own” tutorials, including those at JCDL'06 and JCDL'07.