DSpace in action : implementing the HKUST Institutional Repository system

The HKUST Institutional Repository system uses the open source DSpace software. The Repository was brought to life in February 2003, after three months of planning, software selection and prototype testing. This part of the presentation discusses how we implemented the system, shows what customizations were made during the past two years, and demonstrates some of the features that are instrumental in fulfilling the goal of making HKUST's scholarly research more openly and globally accessible. While installing DSpace is straightforward, tailoring it to work effectively with Chinese language documents is not trivial. Driven by the fact that faculty are apathetic about self-submission, a simple document submission form was developed. With DSpace's built-in OAI support, plus the implementation of OCLC's SRW/U software and participation in the Google Pilot Project, documents in the Repository are more fully exposed on the Internet for easy harvesting, searching and discovery.