6.10 Disseminate
The items submitted and archived into the DSpace digital library repository can be disseminated and
accessed by the users through search and browse. DSpace offers users the capability to search
DSpace for items of interest both simple and advanced. From the DSpace home page, users can
browse all items in DSpace by title, author, or issue date.
6.11 Observation
DSpace provides a way to manage research materials and publications in a professionally maintained
repository to give them greater visibility and accessibility over time. It helps to:
Getting research results out quickly, to a worldwide audience
Reaching a worldwide audience through exposure to search engines such as Google
Storing reusable teaching materials that one can use with course management systems
Archiving and distributing material would currently put on personal website
Storing examples of students’ projects (with the students’ permission)
Showcasing students’ theses (again with permission)
Keeping track of own publications/bibliography
Having a persistent network identifier for work, that never changes or breaks
7. Conclusion
One of the leading uses for DSpace is as an institutional repository. DSpace followed the librarian’s
inclination to create a system that would be as easy as possible to implement and use, rather than
push strictly in the direction of digital library research from which a more flexible system might have
emerged. DSpace, therefore, was designed as an open source application that institutions and
organizations could run with relatively few resources. The intention to support interoperability (with
DSpace implementers at other institutions, for example) led to the adoption of the Open Archives
Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAIPMH). The OAI Registry includes DSpace, making its
Dublin-Core-formatted metadata available to compatible harvesting code. In addition, DSpace chose
to implement CNRI handles as the persistent identifier associated with each item to insure that the
system will be able to locate and retrieve documents in the distant future.