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

[Tammy Jones]

Our metadata was currently present.  We used the script to map our 
current metadata to Dublin Core and then write it out in the Import 
format.  I hope this helps.

Tammy Jones


Jason Simms wrote:

> 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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>>> End of Dspace-general Digest, Vol 10, Issue 8
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>>
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