International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 8 Issue 4, Jul-Aug 2024 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

The Application of Open Source Software Technology in Electronic

Information Management in Digital Libraries: The Case of DSpace
Mbah Relean-Jeans1, Egbe Isu Michael2
1
Ph.D. in Information Science, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
1
Lecturer of Library, Archival, Museum and Information Science, University of Buea, South West Region, Cameroon
2
Ph.D. in Digital Librarianship, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
2
Lecturer in Department of Library and Information Science, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT How to cite this paper: Mbah Relean-

With the introduction of open source software and particularly Jeans | Egbe Isu Michael "The
DSpace in the broad and ever-growing world of information science, Application of Open Source Software
it is incumbent on information scientists and digital librarians to Technology in Electronic Information
stimulate and ensure a sustained understanding, utilisation and Management in Digital Libraries: The
Case of DSpace" Published in
optimisation of this new arm of technology. On the one hand, this International
research article is an investigation into what this new arm of Journal of Trend in
technology called DSpace of open source software is all about. On Scientific Research
the other hand, it acts as a gateway into the application of this new and Development
arm of technology within the precision of virtual information (ijtsrd), ISSN:
institutions such as digital libraries. It is within the competence of 2456-6470,
this research article to demonstrate that through a virtual platform Volume-8 | Issue-4, IJTSRD67208
called integrated library system, the timely introduction as well as August 2024,
adequate absorption of DSpace into librarianship is of enduring pp.618-627, URL:
nature which leads to long-lasting significance in information www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd67208.pdf
acquisition, management and consultation. In perspective, therefore, Copyright © 2024 by author (s) and
the organisation of digital information resources through acquisition International Journal of Trend in
and circulation for instance are quite eminent when it comes to the Scientific Research and Development
application of this new technology in librarianship. In this scientific Journal. This is an
write-up therefore, there are explorations and presentations of Open Access article
fundamental aspects of open source software technology which distributed under the
contradict those of proprietary software technology. It is terms of the Creative Commons
recommended that information institutions such as university Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
libraries, archives, museums, etc. should solicit the services, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
procurement and institutionalisation of DSpace. Finally, a glossary is
built at the end of this scientific write-up, and through this initiative, KEYWORDS: Open source
meanings are accorded to seemingly challenging terms and concepts software, Electronic information,
which are generally frequent and unavoidable in this branch of Digital library, DSpace
information science.

1. INTRODUCTION
With the advent of software technology in library and and management of relevant information in this new
information science a lot has changed in the methods era of information globalisation. DSpace is an open
which information professionals previously used in source software technology that has particularly stood
assembling and systematising information for public the test of time in digital information management in
consumption. In the past few decades it is modern librarianship.
undoubtedly visible that software technology has
The philosophy behind open source software defines
brought a sea change in the conceptualisation and
a free method in which software development,
arrangement of information in libraries, archives,
distribution and use, allow for peer review and
museums and other related information institutions.
transparency of progress. This technique has greatly
Software therefore, has flagged information
contributed to the provision of qualitative information
scientists’ as well as digital librarians’ gateway to
assemblage and management especially as it is
information widely opened towards the organisation
capable of propagating salient elements such as

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reliability, flexibility and lower cost. Consequently, software there is freedom which promotes liberty in
open source software technology has proven beyond software technology which is more preferable to a
every reasonable doubt that it is an unavoidable end situation in which there exists ownership in
to the traditional or stereotypic reasoning which technology. This is a situation in which proprietary
stipulates that financial remuneration must software is indeed abhorred (Lochhaas & Moore,
accompany goods and services. Open source software 2010).
is an indication that information which is
Based on GNU Operating System, Free Software
representative of the so-called ‘goods and services’ is
Foundation promotes the Four Essential Freedoms of
free. In accordance with the aforementioned,
using free software:
therefore, it is encouraging to note that in open source
 The freedom to run the programme, for any
software the source code and rights that could have
purpose (freedom 0).
been normally reserved for copyright holders are
rather provided to all and sundry under a free  The freedom to study how the programme works
software license that permits developers and users to so as to be able to change it and enable it to do
study, change, improve and at times also distribute what someone wishes (freedom 1). Access to the
the software. source code is a precondition for this specific
freedom.
According to Lochhaas and Moore (2010) open
source software is software that provides access to  The freedom to redistribute copies so that
source code. This opinion or fact simply means that someone who is already in possession can be able
users are free to see how this production or product is to assist his/her neighbour or partner i.e. someone
constituted. Additionally, users possess the right and else who wishes to be in possession later on
potentiality to adjust and/or adapt the product by (freedom 2).
offering a slight alteration to its code based on their  The freedom which someone possesses to
liking, thought, experience and experiment with distribute copies of his/her modified versions to
different versions. This is interestingly important someone else or other people (freedom 3). By
because these acts of freedom and right are carrying out this specific freedom a primary user
prerequisites of profound marketing. By the of this commodity can eventually distribute and
endorsement of these characteristics this product redistribute it to an entire community of users
stands a great chance to be properly advertised, who will have the opportunity of benefiting from
marketed and sold even at a giveaway price. the changes made by the primary user. Access to
However, it should be understood here that based on the source code is a precondition for this
what is commonly stated as the principle of freely particular freedom.
received freely given, it is highly expected of
modifiers of this product to give it away or resell the 2. BRIEF HISTORY OF OPEN SOURCE
new product with the guarantee that they must also SOFTWARE
provide free access to its altered source code. As far back as early 1960s there was the production
Modification and redistribution of the product are the and distribution of commercial computers which had
two main components of open source software. a rather surprising element of freely distributed
software accompanied by source code. This
Kogut and Metiu (2001) posited that the ideology production and distribution was on a large-scale basis
behind open source software is the promotion of and was hosted by IBM. In the 1970s this promising
information use and intellectual freedom. However, trend unfortunately subsided in preference of
when it is said that open source software is free, many proprietary software which operated under very
people misunderstand the meaning of this statement. restrictive licensing conditions. Then came the
Here, it is cautioned that information scientists, magical 1980s when things returned to where they
digital librarians, virtual archivists, electronic curators previously were in the 1960s. By mid 1980s and
and anyone else who is deeply involved in the under the auspices of Richard Matthew Stallman
profession of digital information management, should popularly known by the initials RMS, a movement
think of "free" as in freedom, and not necessarily was launched known as Free Software Movement.
"free" as in price, although it often is. Founded in
1985 by Richard Mathew Stallman, Free Software In 1998 and under what was termed Mozilla Project,
Foundation (FSF) or Movement has a raison d’être Netscape made a rather surprising announcement that
which differs slightly from open source software it was going to release the source code for its web
ideology (Corrado, Sandy & Mitchell, 2018). This browser. This somewhat amazing announcement, was
difference comes on the heels of the fact that in free the main reason why a conference held in Palo Alto,
California to discuss the strategic process for this

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extraordinary event. In this conference, the term institutions, establishments, organisations, companies
"open source" software was born. According to Neary or agencies of information such as libraries, archives,
(2018) this was the very first time that this term was etc. which are modern in their operations and
coined; and its coinage was thanks to Christine functioning to adopt ILS.
Peterson. Although Christine Peterson is apparently
Within an integrated library system a couple of issues
projected as the first person to use the term open
are mandatorily addressed and several activities are
source, it is argued that RMS remains the father of
effectively and efficiently realised. For instance a
open source technology.
software built to this capacity and capability should
Before this juicy advocacy brought forth by Richard ensure that used or borrowed items are traced or
Stallman’s movement what dominated the existence tracked, needed resources are ordered for acquisition,
of software technology in the 1960s was the first salaries of workforce are programmed and paid,
UNIX (or UNICS) operating system which was resources are organised through classification,
designed and implemented at Bell Laboratories by cataloguing, indexing, etc. just to mention these few.
Thomson. Stallman’s GNU was an alternative to Furthermore, Tennant (2008) is quick and efficient at
Thomson’s UNIX. Stallman licensed his project illustrating how an integrated library system is a
under what he termed Copyleft which is a direct complex presentation of a typical relational database
opposite of what is normally known as copyright. comprising two principal components technically
Soon afterward, Open Source Initiative was founded called graphical user interfaces. In the architecture of
by Eric Raymond, another attendee at the conference an ILS its software is designed to offer possibility for
who continued to promote open source education and two principal actors in the field of librarianship to
community building. Open Source Initiative adhered interact primarily between themselves and
to the responsibility of creating awareness towards secondarily among themselves and the things or
the benefits of open source software (Lochhaas & issues of the library. These two principal actors are no
Moore, 2010). These authors further revealed that other than library workforce also called library staff
GNU General Public License (GPL), created by and library patrons who equally go by the name
Richard Stallman is an example of free software information seekers and/or users.
license, cleverly nicknamed copyleft license. Information scientists and digital librarians who
Effectively, copyleft license uses copyright law to double as software engineers have found effective
request and obtain works that have to be available for and efficient ways in which library staff who receive
modification and distribution under the general training as librarians can be productive in their
philosophy of free and open source software. activities, output and performances. In the
Obtaining a GPL is another form of copyleft which architectural design or programming of an ILS which
stands out as a technical assurance of the fact that fulfils all the necessary parameters that can permit it
open source rights are legally enforced ironically in to be implemented and integrated in librarianship in
its freedom. order to enhance the functioning of the library, there
3. INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEM (ILS) is what is known as modulation. Modulation is a
It is imperative to have a good understanding of situation in which an ILS which is non-proprietary in
ILS because open source software used in nature is originally designed by its manufacturer to
information institutions such as libraries are generally divide and separate library chores or activities into
or commonly used when such libraries are adequately discrete programmes called modules. According to
endowed with integrated library system. Adamson Kochtanek and Mathews (2002) in ILS, software
and Veronica (2008) are of the opinion that integrated functions are separated with each being integrated
library system which equally goes by the appellation with a unified interface. In a typical ILS galvanised
Library Management System (LMS) is a reference by an open source software technology such as
made to what they term Enterprise Resource Planning DSpace, this division and separation have led to the
System (ERPS) for a library. In an attempt to existence and availability of some fundamental
elaborate and substantiate this, it is clear that modules for the coordination of library functioning.
integrated library system or library management These fundamentally sustainable modules include the
system or enterprise resource planning system is a following:
complete electronic setup or platform which is  Acquisition module which is made to entertain
designed to incorporate all the essential elements and and facilitate principal collection development
components of librarianship which are considered as activities such as selection, subscription, ordering,
prerequisites for effective and efficient functioning of invoicing, etc.
libraries. Nowadays, it is somehow mandatory for

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 Organisational module which is designed to For electronic information to be made realistically
incorporate organisational activities such as available, a combination of fundamental components
classification, cataloguing, indexing, abstracting, of what is generally known as Information and
etc. Communication Technology (ICT) must be brought
 Circulation module which is built to enhance and together and connected to function in a union or as a
facilitate the distribution of resources or materials system. For this to be a reality, fundamental
to library users. It facilitates the implementation components of ICT that must be incorporated include
of two major circulation processes known as hardware, software and network. In reality, electronic
charging and discharging which are interpreted as information is simply the electronic version of
lending of materials and reception of loans intellectual contents of physical books, photographs,
respectively. newspapers, magazines, paintings, etc. all of which
are physically owned by a traditional library. This is
 Serial module which is made to enhance, promote the reason for which there is the existence of e-books,
and coordinate activities that have to do with the e-photographs, e-newspapers, e-magazines, e-
manner and rate at which serial publications such paintings, etc. The letter “e” is used to represent the
as journals, newspapers, magazines, etc. are word “electronic.”
treated in the library by workforce and circulated
to patrons. Open source electronic information software presents
a system for the construction (assembling) and
 OPAC module which is a special designation for presentation (dissemination) of facts or knowledge
library users. This is the reason for which it is which is present as information in either a singular
rather known as public interface for users. arrangement or in a collection or collections. This has
In an integrated library system it is possible for every helped in building collections with metadata-based
duly registered user to have all his/her activities and browsing facilities and searching. Moreover, this
interactions monitored. This is because every bona system can easily be maintained, augmented and
fide member of a library community is awarded a rebuilt automatically with the help of various
unique identification commonly known as ID which components of Information and Communication
can be used for reference, hence, tracking. Equally, it Technology. With many open source software
is quite possible for every workforce to have his/her applications now available for library and information
actions, involvements, interactions or activities management, information organisations and
assessed and monitored. This is because the institutions currently have new options for acquiring,
assignment of unique ID is not limited to information organizing and disseminating information. DSpace
seekers and users. It is a generous award which is presents such illustrated capabilities. Therefore, the
highly extended to the whims and caprices of all open source software application for library and
those who are involved in librarianship. These include information management that is researched and
workforce and users. In conclusion, it is fascinating to discussed in this article is no other than DSpace.
note that all materials which are processed in all 5. ELECTRONIC INFORMATION AND
institutions of information such as libraries are DIGITAL LIBRARY MANAGEMENT
equally given unique IDs. SYSTEMS
4. ELECTRONIC INFORMATION More often than not, a digital library is considered as
Electronic information refers to an awareness- a complex system. However, while Ferilli et al.
creating entity (or a collection that constitutes (2010) simply view a digital library as any library in
information resources) which is accessible through which collections are preserved in digital format and
electronic devices such as computers, laptops, radios, accessible through computers or computing devices,
televisions, etc. as well as handheld devices such as Waters (1998) considers digital libraries as:
mobile phones, Kindles, Nooks, etc. which offer “Organisations that provide the resources,
personal digital assistance to individuals. Electronic including the specialised staff, to select,
information refers to facts or knowledge that can be structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret,
acquired and/or disseminated via electronic devices distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure
which either operate on an independent or standalone the persistence over time of collections of digital
basis, or operate in conjunction and integration with works so that they are readily and economically
factors and facilities which have the propensity to available for use by a defined community or set
influence or enhance automation and to a reasonable of communities.”
extent digitisation which is equally known as
digitalisation. Das and Krishnamurthy (2014) view a digital library
as an integrated system that allows the gathering,

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cataloguing, storage, preservation, protection and unto it which is largely composed of electronic and
retrieval of information at a right time to the right digital information. It is only when this methodology
user. These authors are upbeat that a digital library is exhaustively used (i.e. used to its last stage) that
gives service like a physical library does although in open source software technology can then be
the form of digital media. Digital libraries provide recommended for acquisition, installation and use.
users with soft copies of documents in a systematic
6. OPEN SOURCE AND PROPRIETARY
way. They focus on collections of digital objects that
SOFTWARE
can include texts, videos, audio recordings, still
There are two major categories or types of software
images and other digital documents. The uniqueness
with respect to acquisition, organisation,
of a digital library stems from the fact that all its
dissemination and use of soft or virtual information.
information resources which are available for patrons
Since a digital library is a ‘home’ for soft or virtual
to use are stored and presented as digital media or in
information, it is mandatorily important to underscore
digital media format.
the presence or availability as well as use of these two
The concept and practicability of digital library categories of software in a typical digital library. It
services have greatly advanced during the past few should equally be understood that there are several
decades throughout the world. Before now, digital types of libraries which deal in the management of
libraries were merely understood to be the digital soft information. In one of his leading research
counter part of physical libraries and other publications titled School library: School and
information centres (or information institutions) educational library media centre, Relean-Jeans
among which include museums and archives. But (2024) clearly differentiates among digital library,
currently, digital libraries are intricate networked electronic library, virtual library, automated library
systems capable of supporting communication and and hybrid library.
collaboration among different, worldwide distributed
In perspective, the two major categories of software
user communities (Tramboo, Humma, Shafi & Gul,
technologies that are generally deployed in digital
2012). Premium functionality as implemented by
libraries include fee-based or commercial software
digital library management system is the conceptual
and free or open source software technologies. Some
and practical digitising of all possible information
major distinguishing features that differentiate these
resources wherever and whenever they are available
two categories include the class of functionality
irrespective of their types or forms. Therefore, the
offered, the type of object model for information
major anticipated achievement of digital libraries is
being supported, and the openness of their
thoughtfully going to be the dissemination of digital
architecture. By implication, open source software is
and electronic information universally without
normally used to run an open source digital library
boundaries. This is definitely a dream which has
management system. An open source digital library
practically come true today.
management system is an information system purely
An outstanding property of digital library characterised by a series of unique factors or
management system is that the system makes elements. It is a system which provides extensible
allocation for a suitable framework that allows the features to system administrators and allows
incorporation of in-coming digital and/or electronic information-providing organisations or institutions to
resources and providing for their integration within showcase their digital achievements to users or
the system. With regards to electronic information viewers all over the world with the possibility of
management in a digital library what is of outmost causing some sort of restructuring or modification of
importance is the fundamental functionality essential existing source code which has the propensity to alter,
to the permutation of additional software that adjust, revise and regulate certain contents of this
provides more refined and advanced application. This system or software. Haven underscored the fact that
is absolutely factual because a digital library digital library management system is available on
primarily offers and manages electronic information commercial as well as open source software, it is now
given that all digital information is primarily or imperative to state that open source software and
basically electronic although this situation is not vice precisely DSpace is the one researched or
versa. While all digital information is electronic in investigated and reported hereafter in this article.
nature only a portion of electronic information is
7. BRIEF HISTORY OF DSPACE
digital in constitution. The practical
TECHNOLOGY
institutionalisation of digital library can thus be
As a word of caution, DSpace should not be confused
realised by setting up and deploying a digital
with 1988 dSPACE of Herbert Hanselmann who
management system and then uploading a content
served at Institute of Mechatronics which was based

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in Germany especially in University of Paderborn. preservation of digital content in general and digital
This other dSPACE is an acronym for Digital Signal intellectual content in particular.
Processing and Control Engineering. This research
9. DSPACE AS USED IN ELECTRONIC
article is on DSpace and not dSPACE. Initially INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
released in November 2002, Dura Space or DSpace in A. MIT Libraries and HP labs
short is a remarkable digital repository system which
DSpace open source software technology is a product
captures, stores, indexes, preserves and redistributes of mutual partnership between two world’s leading
an organisation's research material in digital form and giants in digital technology sector. MIT Libraries and
formats. This software was launched in the year 2000 HP labs are the initiators and developers of this
and its first version known as DSpace 1.0 was only
lifelong joint project. According to Tramboo et al.
released two years later i.e. precisely on the 4th of (2012 p.12), “DSpace is a digital asset management
November 2002. However, in 2009 Dspace merged system which allows institutions such as libraries to
with Fedora Commons and this merge went a long collect, archive, index, and disseminate scholarly and
way to ensure that as a software manufacturing intellectual efforts of a community.” Written with a
company DSpace was actually counted among the combination of technologies by MIT and HP, “it is
world’s largest, greatest and leading providers of primarily used to capture bibliographic information
open source digital repository software. In the year
describing articles, papers, theses, and dissertations”
2011, DSpace launched what is known as Dura (Tramboo et al., 2012 p.12). Electronic information
Cloud. In reality, Dura Cloud is nothing other than management is simple with Dspace because it uses
open source digital preservation software service. such quick metadata access points like title, creator,
This giant digital information-providing company subject, description, publisher, contributor, date, type,
known as Dura Space lastly witnessed a merge as late format, identifier, source, language, relation, coverage
as 2019. This merge was with Lyrasis.
and rights. In this technology there is built-in
8. THE MEANING OF DSPACE interoperability between systems which adheres them
TECHNOLOGY to international standards for metadata format.
DSpace stands for Dura Space and represents open
B. General characteristic functions of Dspace
source digital repository software currently being It is important to underscore that DSpace is built on a
used in giant information-providing institutions such highly flexible and accommodating disposition which
as libraries, archives and museums just to name only consequently enables it to easily adapt to different
these few. Dura Space or DSpace in short has information needs of a community of information
gradually become formidable especially for tertiary users. Since DSpace is an open source technology
institutions which are involved in research and platform, it can be customised to extend its
dissemination of soft information through library capabilities. Some of its characteristics are as follows:
practices across the globe. To solicit the services of a. It is an open source software technology whose
DSpace for a variety of digital preservation or design purposely target open access information
archiving is a warranty for needs which include management.
learning object preservation, institutional preservation
as well as electronic records archiving. One good b. Information management and archiving of digital
thing with DSpace is that as open source software, it contents or preservation of soft documents via
is freely available for acquisition and use. DSpace are accorded with great flexibility and
above all, a high tendency to cause modification
Furthermore, active communities of talented software within the system.
engineers, researchers and users throughout the world c. It is used in creating open access repository for
who can contribute their own quota to the digital contents in general and soft documents in
development and advancement of this technology, particular which are representatives of intellectual
keep updating it with their latest expertise knowledge. contents.
Mellon (2004) corroborated by Morris (2019) is of
the opinion that DSpace is a representation of open d. As a relational database, it is in possession of
source repository software package. The main many features that demonstrate overlapping and
purpose of DSpace is associated with creation, control crossover functionalities.
and management of open access information e. As information management system, it operates
repository which is host to scholarly published on the overall functionality of information
intellectual contents. This repository software management which is specifically attainable in
typically serves as a digital archiving system, information acquisition, information processing
focusing on the long-term storage, access and and information dissemination.

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f. Its digital archiving system is designed to operate communities, collections, items (which are archival)
on a long-term basis and ensures that content elements, bitstreams and bundles in this decreasing
storage and preservation are digitalised. order of magnitude. The general features of bundles
g. It is a turnkey digital repository application for are as follows:
durable access to digital resources. a. Originality: The bundle content is original i.e. it
contains the originally deposited bitstreams.
h. It provides a platform through which institutional
repositories and/or collections are searchable and b. Thumbnails: Thumbnails of any image bitstreams
retrievable, and these activities or operations can are constantly available.
be realised via the Web. c. Text: It includes extracted full-text from
i. It helps to make available institution-based bitstreams. This happens due to the originality
scholarly materials in digital form and other which bundles have (i.e. due to the fact that
related formats. These materials will be open and bundles have original content).
available to everyone who is in need and comes d. Deposit license: Every bundle most especially
for inquiry, accessibility, location and retrieval. those in open source software contains a general
C. Data organisation into bundles license called deposit license which is usually an
The manner in which data (which cumulatively yield official permission of a submitter tolerating the
digital information and subsequently digital host organisation to have right over his
information resource) is controlled and arranged in submissions or deposits.
DSpace is intended to reflect the structure of the e. CC-license: This is a rather common license
organisation using the DSpace. Each DSpace site is which a bundle has in order to legally support the
divided into communities, which can be further promotion of its free distribution. This license
divided into sub-communities reflecting the typical specifies what end users can do with the
university structure of faculty, department and unit. downloaded content.
Communities are composed of collections while
E. Interpretation of bitstream and its relationship
collections are composed of groups or sets of related
with Dublin Core
content. An important dynamism in this systematic
One of the fundamental services which is so
arrangement is the fact that one collection may appear
important to the functioning of DSpace open source
in more than one community. However, every
software package is preservation service which traces
collection is composed of items, which are the basic
the format of files submitted by users. It is important
archival elements of the collection.
to capture the specific formats of files that users
At an initial stage of data input (comprising data submit. The nature of a bitstream is unique and
structuring and organizing), every item has just a provides a coherent way to sort out a particular file
single ‘parental’ ownership. But after the input stage, format. Tramboo et al. (2012) opined that the implicit
or in other words during the retrieval stage, despite or explicit notion of a bitstream format is the
the fact that an item originally has a single ownership, provision of means on how material in that format
it may additionally appear in other collections. Items can be interpreted; for example the bitstream
are further subdivided into bundles named bitstreams. interpretation for still images compression encoded in
Bitstreams are, as the name suggests, streams of bits, the JPEG standard is defined explicitly in the
usually ordinary computer files. Tramboo et al. (2012 Standard ISO/IEC10918-1. In DSpace each item in
p.8) stated that Bitstreams that are somehow closely data organogram (or data organisational chart) has
related “for example HTML files and images that one qualified Dublin Core metadata record. An item
compose a single HTML document are organised into may have other metadata stored in as serialised
bundles.” Similarly, Tansley, Bass, Branschofsky, bitstream but all the time, Dublin Core is used to
Carpenter, McClellan, and Stuve (2005) stated that provide interoperability and ease of discovery. The
the bundles most items tend to have, always showcase Dublin Core may be entered by end-users as they
originality, thumbnail, text, license and CC license. submit content, or it might be derived from other
Consequently, there is a need to scrupulously metadata as part of an ingest process.
examine these qualities.
F. Expulsion of item from DSpace
D. General characteristics of bundles Whenever an item is deemed necessary for expulsion
Bundles which in other words are the smallest from DSpace, it is done in two ways. Firstly, the said
identifiable aspects of DSpace sites are characterised item could simply be 'withdrawn'. Withdrawal of
by some features. It is worth noting that a progressive items from DSpace is an act which makes items
breakdown of each DSpace site will result in completely hidden from view but enables them to

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remain in the archives. Item withdrawal therefore undertake particular actions when it comes to
implies that whenever end users make an effort to particular resources.
access withdrawn items, an indication appear to them
10. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
explaining that the item has been taken away and
DSpace open source software technology presents an
therefore no longer exists. Secondly, there is a
easy to use, customisable architecture to create and
complete removal or delete of an item from the entire
manage electronic information. In organisations or
system. For some peculiar or pertinent reasons, an
institutions such as universities, use of this
item may be 'erased' totally from the system if
technology can greatly help to disseminate lecturers’
absolutely necessary. In this case, all traces of it are
as well as students’ research works, manuscripts,
removed from the archive.
publications, or other digital media which require
G. The features of DSpace as Digital Management preservation in digital form or format. As
Software recommendation, information institutions and
As digital management software, DSpace primarily organisations such as university libraries, university
has two outstanding features which are authentication archives, university museums and other libraries,
and authorisation. In Information Security Control archives and museums, are highly encouraged to
(ISC), authentication and authorisation are basically solicit the services, procurement and
access control to the content of digital information. institutionalisation of DSpace. Open source software
Beside access control, there is physical control and technology generally presents different services and
communication control making all together three architectures. In as much as it is difficult to propose a
major types of controls in information security specific open source software as the best, it is
control. Unfortunately, physical and communication undoubtedly clear that DSpace is one of the most
controls are not directly linked to this discussion. suitable in all cases.
Consequently, only access control which is divided
GLOSSARY
into authentication and authorisation is discussed in
Bell Laboratories is a long-time American research
this information science article as follows:
based corporation operating in the form of a
A. Authentication laboratory. This corporation has left a bold mark in
This is a process of ensuring that the 'digital signature' the world of technological and/or scientific
i.e. password of a contributor or user is valid. DSpace innovation which is typically driven by research.
allows contributors or users to limit the access they
Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several
have to items in a DSpace site at both the collection
public copyright licenses that enable the free
and the individual item levels. Authentication is
distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work. A CC
therefore, the mechanism used by the system to
license is used when an author wants to give people
securely identify its users. According to Sprague
the right to share, use, and build upon a work that
(2013) authentication is about: something the user is,
he/she has created.
something the user has, something the user does and
something the user knows. In a simpler way, this Digital library is a library in which all its
author concluded that authentication is about information resources are in digital format. These
password. There are basically three ways through resources can include text, visual material, audio
which authentication can be provided in DSpace and material, video material, etc. stored as digital media.
these include user passwords, X509 certificates and This is contrary to other media, forms, formats, etc.
LDAP. It is not every information user that has the such as print, microform, etc. in which information is
privilege or potential to administer access control. In available, contained and served in a physical or
fact access control can only be administered by traditional library.
authorised users and this logically explains why Dublin Core Schema is a small set of vocabularies
authorisation is of utmost importance. or terms that can be used to describe web resources
B. Authorisation for instance web pages, images, video, etc. It is also
This is the mechanism by which DSpace determines applicable to the description of physical resources
what level of access a particular authenticated user such as books, compact disks, etc.
should have to secure resources. Access control is GNU which stands for Gnu’s Not Unix is an
always instituted in consonance with access control operating system whose origin and development can
policies. So these two (i.e. access control and access be traced to an announcement made in 1983 by
control policies) always work together enabling a user Richard Stallman. GNU is pronounced as “g-noo.” As
to know the type of credentials that may be needed to an operating system GNU plays a fundamental role in
the open source software movement or free software

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advocacy discussed in this article. GNU is often Mozilla Project was a project designed to
associated with General Public License (GPL). demonstrate to the entire world that there is a need to
GNU General Public License (GPL) refers to a open the horizon of Internet and online elements of
license advocated by Stallman whose prerogative was technology.
to ensure the free utilisation, free sharing and free Netscape is a Web service company which is fully
modification of software as fought for by the famous presented as Netscape Communications Corporation.
Free Software Foundation discussed in this article. Headquartered in California, Netscape in short is by
HP Labs is a short form of Hewlett-Packard every means an American based computer
Laboratories. HP Labs is an exploratory and corporation which enjoys a lot of independence.
advanced research group with headquarters in Palo OPAC is the contracted form of what is known as
Alto which is found in California in the United States Online Public Access Catalogue. In reality, OPAC is
of America. It started in 1963 as an initiative of Bill the electronic version or equivalence of traditional,
Hewlett and David Packard who happen to be physical or manual catalogue which helps in directing
cofounders. library users unto rightful resources which they are in
HTML is an acronym for HyperText Markup need of. Unlike physical catalogue which can be
Language. HTML is a standard markup language touched with human hands, OPAC is virtual or
used with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and electronic in nature and can only be observed with the
JavaScript, to create web pages and user interfaces for eyes.
mobile and web applications. Open source means that the software is most likely
IBM refers to International Business Machine. In free and the source code is completely open.
reality this is a huge multimillion dollars company Someone can modify, fix, add to, take away, and
which is at the helm of computer manufacture, sale change the code any way he/she wishes.
and distribution. Haven existed for over a century; it Proprietary means that the software costs money and
is a global technology that is responsible for salient the source code is restricted. Someone cannot modify,
issues in computing or computer technology some of fix, add to, take away, or change the code in any
which include artificial intelligence (AI), automation form.
and hybrid cloud solution.
Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of videos and
JPEG is an abbreviation for Joint Photographic pictures. They are very important in that they help
Experts Group and it is pronounced jay–peg. JPEG is experts to be able to recognise and organise video
a commonly used method of losing compression for images and other digital pictures. Thumbnails carry
digital images, particularly for those images produced out the same function for digital videos and pictures
by digital photography. as normal texts index do for words.
LDAP is the contraction form of Lightweight UNIX which is equally addressed as UNICS is a
Directory Access Protocol. It is an open, vendor- multitasking computer operating system. Its full
neutral, industry standard application protocol for meaning is Uniplexed Information Computing
accessing and maintaining distributed directory System.
information services over an Internet Protocol (IP)
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