The growth of institutional repositories in South Africa is on the increase and it will be these repositories that serve as the bedrock for the increased visibility of research output of the nation. At this point in time, there are around ten South African tertiary institutions that are using DSpace to create and populate their repositories. However, the level of expertise and skills vary.

It is the intention of the DSpace workshop to build on the existing expertise in South African academic libraries to install LAMP-based (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) applications on the Linux Ubuntu 8.04LTS operating system, while at the same time to teach IT technicians the intricacies involved with installing version 1.5 of the DSpace open source digital repository management system, and to gain better insight into the more advanced features of the system software.  The technical training will be preceded by an introduction to institutional repositories and the various aspects involved in the management thereof.

A prerequisite to install the DSpace digital repository software is a familiarity with the Linux operating system to such an extent that the technician is comfortable with installing LAMP-applications.  To help overcome this stumbling block one full day will be dedicated to installing Linux (server edition) from scratch, together with a Wordpress blog application.

Given the uneven distribution of skills and lack of expertise, the Stellenbosch University in collaboration with the University of Pretoria and @Mire are proud to announce a DSpace workshop specifically aimed at information technology specialists that are using or plan to implement DSpace at their institutions. DSpace experts from @Mire (Belgium) will act as facilitators during this workshop, along with staff from Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria.  For a detailed version of the workshop objectives, motivation and provisional program - with specific reference to using DSpace 1.5.x. - download a copy of the workshop business plan.

Expected outcomes
Through this workshop we would like to elevate the skills, knowledge and competencies of current DSpace users within South Africa, and allow them to place South Africa's research outputs for global consumption. The skills and knowledge pool will be expanded to support new comers to DSpace.

Target group
IT Specialists from institutions currently using DSpace or who plan to implement DSpace. Maximum 40 persons can be accommodated per day, one from each institution.  Depending on the amount of registrations a second representative from each institution, or from NRF-affiliated research centres, could be considered.

Prerequisites
IT Specialists should be familiar with basic networking competencies, e.g. DHCP, TCP/IP, DNS, etc.  Previous experience with installing Linux or DSpace would be to your advantage, but is not essential.

Duration of workshop
4.5 days (7-11 September 2009) from 8:30 - 17:00 each day except Friday (Friday 8:30 - 14:00). It is highly recommended that you attend all 5 days.

Costs
Workshop attendance is free of charge. You will only be liable for arranging and paying your own accommodation and transport costs (flight bookings, rental car  hire from Cape Town International airport, etc.). We will provide you with a free lunch each day.

Location
NARGA (B) computer lab, Admin A building, Stellenbosch University.
View the satellite photo of the NARGA labs, or navigate Google Maps, starting from the J.S. Gericke library entrance (GPS coordinates: -33.933363,18.864056) to orientate yourself with the layout of the central campus.

Learning Material
Delegates will be provided with DVD's and/ or manuals where needed, with all training material made available on a wiki. This will largely be a hands-on workshop.
 

Facilitators
The facilitators for this workshop are from the Universities of Pretoria and Stellenbosch, and @Mire from Belgium:
 

Lieven Droogmans @Mire Technologielaan 9 3001 Heverlee, Belgium URL: www.atmire.com E-mail: lieven@mire.be	Hilton Gibson Linux Systems Administrator Library and Information Service Stellenbosch University Tel.: +27 21 808 4100 Fax: +27 21 808 3723 E-mail: hgibson@sun.ac.za	Wouter Klapwijk Senior Software Specialist Library and Information Service Stellenbosch University Tel.: +27 21 808 4378 Fax: +27 21 808 3723 E-mail: wklap@sun.ac.za Skype: wouter.klapwijk	Ina Smith IR Manager & eApplication Specialist Dept. of Library Services University of Pretoria Tel.: +27 12 420 3082 Fax: +27 12 362 5100 E-mail: ina.smith@up.ac.za Skype: smith.ina	Leonard Daniels IR IT Specialist Dept. of Library Services University of Pretoria Tel.: +27 12 420 3082 Fax: +27 12 362 5100 E-mail: leonard.daniels@up.ac.za Skype: ldaniels07
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Last updated on 2009/07/21.  Contact the webmaster.