DEVELOPMENT OF A DIGITAL REPOSITORY

This research presents the digital repositories building methodology as well as an overview of the most commonly used open source software platforms for digital repositories, recommended by OpenDOAR. The paper outlines project activities at the Technical University-Sofia (TUS) to evaluate, test and recommend digital repository software and systems to support TUS's collection and preservation of a wide variety of digital objects. The adopted methodology was used to analyze the landscape of repository software and select the most appropriate one, focusing mainly on the Open Source Software (for example, CDSware, DSpace, EPrints, Fedora, Greenstone). The paper is organised as follows: the first section introduces some of the key concepts of digital object repositories. Section 2 presents the digital repositories building methodology as well as an overview of the most commonly used open source software platforms for digital repositories, recommended by OpenDOAR - The Directory of Open Access Repositories. Section 3 discusses the importance of pilot testing. Examples of widely applied schemas and their peculiarities are briefly reported. The conclusion presents the underlying project and determines some research, development and implementation tasks.