[Dspace-general] Re:Entering Items into the Repository

[Jason Simms]

This is a nice solution, except that each of our items requires unique 
metadata.  From the sound of it, your script has some automated method 
of extracting or otherwise generating the necessary metadata for each item.

Jason Simms

Tammy Jones wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
> 
> We are using DSpace in a decent capacity.  We have over 4,000 documents 
> that have to be uploaded initially into our DSpace.  We used a script to 
> put the metadata and document item(s) into the Import Format dictated by 
> DSpace.  Then we ran the Import utility.  This populated DSpace with the 
> 4,000 documents which took approximately 1 day.   This is all described 
> in the DSpace documentation at 
> http://dspace.org/technology/system-docs/application.html#itemimporter.
> 
> Tammy Jones
> NASA Technical Library
> 
> 
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Although we are not a DSpace site, we have the same issue with batch 
>>uploading. If your data isn't already in a database, what do you do? To 
>>try to address that, we created a way that someone could fill out an 
>>Excel spreadsheet according to certain specifications, then we wrote a 
>>Perl program to parse that into the XML format we required. That at 
>>least allows someone with no technical background to be able to use 
>>batch uploading. They send us the spreadsheet, we parse it, send them 
>>back the file, and they upload it. The problem is that this process 
>>still impacts our staff, so we haven't pushed it very hard. But this 
>>may at least be a method to consider if the alternative is filling in 
>>multiple successive web forms, which will almost certainly take longer.
>>Roy Tennant
>>California Digital Library
>>
>>On May 13, 2004, at 6:34 AM, Jason Simms wrote:
>>
>>  
>>
>>>Hello Everyone,
>>>
>>>>From those of you who are using DSpace in any decent capacity, I would 
>>>like to know how you are actually tackling the process of entering 
>>>items into the repository.  For instance, we are in the process of 
>>>creating a digital collection of slides for a campus department.  The 
>>>process of entering the images into DSpace is laborious (not to 
>>>mention the workflow involved with simply digitizing and organizing 
>>>the physical slides in the first place), and I cannot think of any 
>>>time-saving methods.
>>>
>>>Everyone knows that the batch import tools have some issues of 
>>>usability and could be improved.  In any event, because this is not a 
>>>legacy digital collection, none of the images have metadata associated 
>>>with them, so the XML files would have to be manually created right 
>>>along with the directory structure for the batch import, which 
>>>therefore to my mind seems more time-consuming than simply entering 
>>>them individually through the DSpace web interface.  On this note, how 
>>>are people creating compliant XML files for use with the batch 
>>>importer, if indeed anyone is doing so?  By hand?  Specialized 
>>>Perl/shell tools?  Without some advanced knowledge of XML, 
>>>programming, UNIX commands, and related technologies, entering items 
>>>by this route is largely impossible, meaning that a highly competent 
>>>"technology" person probably must be in charge of entering the data, 
>>>or at least of tool creation.  Even if a useful script is built that 
>>>abstracts the data entering process so that anyone can do it, the end 
>>>result is a Perl or similar script that basically mirrors the 
>>>functionality of the web interface anyway.
>>>
>>>Of course, entering everything by hand through the web interface is an 
>>>exceptionally lengthy process, requiring several screens of clicking 
>>>and data entry.  Even with a fast worker, perhaps only one slide every 
>>>minute or so is a good time, and our collection is somewhere around 
>>>8,000 images.  Without a full-time worker dedicated to only this one 
>>>job, the process quickly becomes almost insurmountable in any 
>>>reasonable timeframe.
>>>
>>>So, how are other institutions managing this troublesome process?
>>>
>>>--
>>>Jason Simms
>>>Computer Programming and Design
>>>University of Tennessee, Knoxville
>>>865.974.8508
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Dspace-general mailing list
>>>Dspace-general at mit.edu
>>>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/dspace-general
>>>
>>>    
>>>
>>
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>>
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>>End of Dspace-general Digest, Vol 10, Issue 8
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>>  
>>
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-- 
Jason Simms
Computer Programming and Design
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
(865) 974-8508
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