Hi Clint, That pretty much summarises our learning also. There is one more project worth keeping an eye on and that is Islandora <http://islandora.ca/>. We really like Kete but it is hard to recommend until we know that the redevelopment has succeeded. We've learnt that DSpace can be delivered at a substantially lower price point than Kete and also benefits from a larger, better resourced community. But DSpace does only what it does, Kete will do so much more if it succeeds. Bob Birchall Calyx On 15/09/14 13:01, clint.deckard wrote:

G'day all,

Working with Koha in schools I have often thought how more useful Koha could be if there was an easy way to integrate student created media eg. videos, podcasts, sound files etc But uploading files to a Koha server isn't straight forward. Uploading to sharing sites like Mega.co.nz ;) is one way around, then cataloguing like any other 856u item, however having the file locally would be better. Another use case I came across recently required a local digital repository and this has focused me on the possibilities.

Here is a quick summary of my personal experiences. I am not an expert, this is new territory for me. I welcome any feedback and accept any mistakes I have made.

DSpace is released under the BSD licence and has a comprehensive feature set but not so easy to install. Others report not so easy to integrate with Koha although I didn't actually get DSpace working to experiment with it. Has a focus as an institutional repository. Backed by HP and MIT library.

Greenstone is released under GNU GPL, is predominantly installed on Windows but does have Linux and Mac versions. Developed in New Zealand at Waikato University with UNESCO backing. Reasonably easy to install in Linux but although functionally capable it feels 'clunky'. Development seems to have all but stalled.

Kete comes from the Horowhenua Library Trust (like Koha) and integrates very well with Koha from what others have said. Again, I didn't actually get Kete running on Debian; very nearly, but when I heard a new version might be available real soon, I chucked it in. The ruby on rails part was the hard bit for me. Has a focus as a community driven repository. development has had a hiatus of a couple of years but, rumour has it, a new version is almost complete. I am optimisic for Kete's future and will check back soon on developments.

Omeka is also GPL, actively developed and lots of functionality with the use of plugins. Very easy to install and easy to use. Shows a lot of promise. I added the OAI-PMH repository plugin to Omeka and then harvested records via the MarcEdit harvester tool for import into Koha.

This Koha enhancment Bug 10662 - Build OAI-PMH Harvesting Client sounds really useful in linking the digital archive with Koha.

I would be pleased to hear others experiences with digital repositories.

Clint.