This is a release to demonstrate the capabilities of the platform. It includes the content types, workflows and derivative-generation capabilities.
This release is intended for potential implementors to assess the platform's features and evaluate their use of Islandora 8 for an RDM platform.
This platform is built on top of Islandora 8, see the release notes for version 1.0.0 of Islandora 8 for full details. All of the features of Islandora 8 are directly available in the RDM platform
The following Islandora-compatible content types are provided by the RDM platform:
Datasets store the metadata associated with an item deposited in the repository, including contributor information, citation data, internal and external identifiers, and information about its publication.
A user may then upload any number of files to associate with this dataset record via the Media tab.
The Data Management Plan content type guides a user through the questions that comprise the DMP, with extensive help text.
Once a plan is saved it is then sent through a similar review and curation workflow to Datasets. Since DMPs are documents, the site platform has incorporated the ability to export the DMP items directly as PDFs.
This is a helper type used by Dataset and DMP types to store information about how the project the item is a part of was funded.
In Islandora, a Media object is a wrapper for an uploaded file that contains metadata about the file to assist in storing it in the Fedora preservation back-end as well as offering custom display capabilities for various types of files.
The RDM platform extends the standard Islandora media types with the Multifile Media capability developed for this project. Additionally the Tabular Data media type is available for uploading data such as CSV files and spreadsheets.
The major architectural innovation included in the RDM platform over Islandora 8 core is the ability to generate derivative files streams and attach them to Media objects. Thus original files are grouped along with the derived datastreams such as thumbnails, service files, alternate formates and text transcripts. This facilitates site builders' ability to easily construct themes to display custom media types.
It is expected that this model will be incorporated in a forthcoming Islandora feature release.
The release includes pre-defined publication review and curation workflow. Site administrators can easily create users with roles for Research Data User, Data Curator and Metadata Curator.
Metadata Curators are responsible for reviewing Datasets and Data Management Plans. When a user with this role logs in, they are presented with a dashboard overview to quickly access content in the review state.
Data Curator users are similarly tasked with reviewing and publishing Media items attached to Dataset objects. Administrators can assign both curation roles to one user if desired.
Besides designating an item as being ready for a curator to review it, users with the Research Data User role may also make an item viewable by other users of the system directly via the 'Workflow Participants' tab. They may grant read-only or edit access to other users to solicit feedback at any time.
All updates to and actions performed on the Dataset and DMP items and their associated media are logged, so users with the Curator role can get an overview of all changes made to any item.
The following microservices were developed for this project and have either been accepted in to Islandora 8 or may be in the future. They are all standalone services that any Islandora site may install on their own or via the RDM platform.
Extracts useful data out of binary files such as image dimensions.
Performs periodic integrity checks on files in the system and allows curator users to view reports when problems arise.
This service creates a downloadable archive of an item on the site for personal use or future data harvesting and archiving applications.