About

Launched: 2002
Record Updated: Dec 03, 2024
Repository software
DSpace is a web application, allowing researchers and scholars to publish documents and data. While DSpace shares some feature overlap with content management systems and document management systems, the DSpace repository software serves a specific need as a digital archives system, focused on the long-term storage, access and preservation of digital content thus making DSpace the software of choice for academic, non-profit, and commercial organizations building open digital repositories. It is free and easy to install “out of the box” and completely customizable to fit the needs of any organization.

Mission

We will create superior open source software by harnessing the skills of an active developer community, the energy and insights of engaged and active users, and the financial support of project members and registered service providers.

Key Achievements

Two releases were developed and made available between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. DSpace 7.6.1 provides bug fixes and performance improvements to the 7.6.x platform. DSpace 8.0 is a major release of the DSpace platform. It provides new features and improvements, along with bug fixes.
The DSpace community welcomed three new members in 2024, and at the close of the fiscal year had a total of 109 members: 3 Platinum, 14 Gold, 14 Silver, 49 Bronze, 14 Copper, 12 Supporter and 3 Other.
As of June 30, 2024, DSpace also has 13 Registered Service Providers, 3 of whom are currently Certified.

Technical Attributes

Maintenance Status

Actively Maintained

Technical Documentation

Implemented

Code License

Implemented

Open Data Statement

Implemented

Open Product Roadmap

Implemented

Technical Attribute Statements

Programming Languages

  • html
  • java
  • javascript
  • typescript

Technology Readiness Level

  • Actual system proven in operational environment

Code Licenses Used

  • BSD licenses

Content Licensing

  • Creative commons licenses
  • Traditional copyright
Other:
Not applicable. Optionally, institutions may configure their local DSpace installation to apply a local and/or Creative Commons licensing to their content.

Standards

Metadata

  • Atom
  • Dublin Core
  • Hypertext Application Language (HAL)
  • IIIF
  • JSON
  • METS
  • OAI-PMH
  • OpenAIRE guidelines
  • REST
  • Signposting
  • SWORD

Persistent Identifier

  • ORCiD
  • Research Organization Registry

Preservation

  • OAIS

Metrics

  • COUNTER 5

Hosting Options

  • Through solution or third party vendor

Integrations

  • arXiv
  • Creative Commons Licenses
  • Crossref
  • DataCite
  • Europe PMC
  • IIIF
  • Mirador
  • Research Organization Registry (ROR)
  • Sherpa Services (Sherpa Romeo, Sherpa Juliet and OpenDOAR)
  • VuFind
Other:
Handle Systems, ORCID, OpenAIRE, Astrophyics Data System (ADS), CiNii, European Patent Office (EPO), PubMed, SciELO, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA, IRUS (Institutional Repository Usage Statistics)

Community Engagement

User Contribution Pathways

  • Contribute funds
  • Contribute to code
  • Contribute to documentation
  • Contribute to education or training
  • Contribute to governance
  • Contribute to working groups or interest groups

Community Engagement Activities

  • Development sprints
  • Interest, working, user, or advisory groups
  • Mailing lists and discussion forums (including Slack)

Engagement with Values Frameworks

  • It Takes a Village Open Source Software Sustainability toolkit

SCOSS Participation

Yes

More About Community Engagement

Community Engagement Activities:

COAR Next Generation Repositories Principles https://ngr.coar-repositories.org/principles/

Policies & Governance

Governance Summary

DSpace governance is based on a representative, community-based membership model incrementally rewarding members who have made the greatest commitments to the project. It consists of a Leadership Group, Steering Group, and Working Groups.

Policies

Commitment to Equity & Inclusion

Implemented

Privacy Policy

Implemented

Web Accessibility Statement

In Progress
Applies to Solution

Governance Structure & Processes

Implemented

Transparent Pricing and Cost Expectations

Implemented

Policy Statements

Board Structure

  • Advisory board or steering committee

Community Governance

  • Formal

Additional Information

Organizational History

The first public version of DSpace was released in November 2002, a joint effort between developers from MIT and HP Labs. After the first user group meeting in March 2004, a group of interested institutions formed the DSpace Federation, determining the governance of future software development by adopting the Apache Foundation's community development model and establishing the DSpace Committer Group. In July 2007 HP and MIT jointly formed the DSpace Foundation, a not-for-profit organization providing leadership and support. In May 2009 collaboration projects and growing synergies between the DSpace Foundation and the Fedora Commons organization led them to join in the not-for-profit DuraSpace to pursue their common mission. DuraSpace and Lyrasis merged in July 2019. Currently Lyrasis provides guidance to the DSpace software and user community as the Organizational Home. The Governance and the DSpace working groups lead the community work and maintenance of the software.

Organizational Structure

Business or Ownership Model

Other

Full-time Staff

1-5

Volunteers

Unknown

Non-profit Status

501(c)3

Current Affiliations

  • DSpace has a range of organizations involved including governance, members, and registered service providers. You can see the current lists at the following links: https://dspace.org/governance

Funding

Primary Funding Source

Membership dues, certified partners and service providers.

Financial Reporting Level

Financial data is for the DSpace community, as managed by Lyrasis, the Organizational Home.

Funding Needs

DSpace software is financially supported by the community: membership dues, certified partners and service providers, and various fundraising efforts. Membership dollars and representation are critical to DSpace. More info on benefits and impact of membership is available at:
https://dspace.org/membership/.
Launched in March 2022, the DSpace Development Fund enables contributions to help support features prioritized by DSpace Leadership. While the best way to support DSpace is still through membership, the DSpace Development Fund provides an alternative path to supporting the critical development work and sustainability of DSpace. Learn more about the development fund and what has already been accomplished through it on this wiki page.