New Features in EPrints 3.2

EPrints Edit locking

Allows you to lock editing to certain users and sessions (to make sure that two editors don't make simultaneous changes to the same record).

Confirmed: Alpha 1

Plug-in Based Storage Layer and Storage Controller

The EPrints Storage Layer is evolving to enable easy plug-and-plug with many storage platforms including local and multiple institutional storage as well as cloud storage. The Storage Controller enables you to use multiple storage platforms simultaneously, define rules for what is stored on each platform and also manage these platforms and migrate resources between platforms as required. More information, including the current API, can be found on the StorageController page.

Confirmed: Alpha 1

Thumbnails are now documents

Up to now, thumbnails have been 'special case' files that have not been managed very consistently by the repository. In particular, there has been no way to create or manage thumbnails through the API. Now, thumbnails and document previews are normal documents of a specific type and specific relationships to other documents. This allows a much more flexible approach to be taken to thumbnails, with multiple size and multiple formats being produced by external services. It also becomes possible to have more complex categories of thumbnail, for example a different thumbnail for every slide in a PowerPoint slideshow, not just a thumbnail of the front slide. That in turn allows EPrints to potentially build visual catalogues of collections of PowerPoint presentations.

Confirmed: Alpha 1 (thumbnails will need to be re-created)

SWORD 2 (1.3 Specification Support)

Conforming to the new standards set out by the SWORD project, EPrints 3.2 will include compatibility for the new features.

Expected: Alpha 1

Preservation Planning Capabilities

Allows EPrints to be linked with file classification tools (primarily DROID) and risk analysis services (PRONOM) which can then not only profile the content of your repository but also identify risks to objects contained within it.

More information on this can be found on the Preservation in EPrints 3.2 page.

Confirmed: Alpha 1 (As an extension)

Enhanced Compatability for DRIVER project systems

In EPrints 3.2 repositories will be by default DREIVER enabled. In a future 3.1 release the better compatability will exist but will remain off by default.

Expected: EPrints 3.1 and 3.2.

Arbitrary metadata linking capabilities

Allows the user to expand their data model with custom predicates which link a resources with other resources. Such an example include the derivedFrom predicate which we are already using.

Confirmed: Alpha 1 (no GUI, API only)

docx,xslx,pptx MS Office XML compatability

Upon upload of these file types EPrints 3.2 will automatically fill in much of the metadata such as title, authors and abstract if possible. 3.2 will also be able to pull these files apart offering optional access to the content within them such as embedded pictures.

Expected: Alpha 1

Enhancements to repository web site management

Taking on the push of 3.1 to make it easy for the repository manager to edit and change the repository configuration without needing access to the configuration files themselves, we are taking that another step further. Coming in 3.2 we intend to allow full look and feel (branding) editing of the main EPrints web pages and templates to be done externally to EPrints in tools such Dreamweaver and Amaya. There will also be a complementary way of uploading new image files.

This editing capability is also complemented by two links which appear on certain pages enabling the administrator to directly edit the page look and feel as well as the phrases on that page.

Confirmed : Alpha 1

Abstract Page Improvements

Lightboxes have been added to the abstract pages for easier previewing of documents.

Confirmed: Alpha 1

User definable datasets

Allows you to expand the core EPrints data model with whole new types of data and datasets which can be indexed and used in searches. It is proposed that the stakeholders in the CERIF standard (projects, authors, institutions etc) will be modelled as separate EPrints datasets and used to support Research Management activities and integration with Research Information Systems.

Confirmed: Alpha 1 (command line only)

OAI-ORE Import and Export Plug-ins

Capability to import and export resources or collections of resources as ORE Resource Maps. Both Atom and RDF serialisations are planned to be made available.

Confirmed: Alpha 1

IRStats/EPStats

Institutional Repository stats are becoming an even more important part of the repository and we hope to have these in the final 3.2 release.

Confirmed: Alpha 1 (As a package) IRStats (Lite)

EPrints Scheduler

Allows tracking of events which happen as well as scheduling new events which need to take place to maintain your repository. Investigation is under way into the power of such a system and if it can be interfaced with desktop calendar programs such as iCal and Google Calendar.

Expected: Beta 2

Shelves of EPrints

No details to be released on this yet

Expected: Beta 2 (tentative)

Coverpage capabilities

Provides a mechanism for adding coverpages to documents before they are provided to users.

Expected: Beta 2 (tentative)

Issues Raising and Resolving Tool

No description currently

Expected: Beta 2 (tentative)

Plugin system for document upload processing

So zip,targz,file, from URL etc. become a plugin each and we add Docx/PPTx too.

Confirmed: Alpha 1

FTP and WebDAV Daemon Support

Access to the user's inbox via FTP and WebDAV, allowing the repository to be mounted as a file system or network drive.

Confirmed: Alpha 1

Multi-stage editorial buffer

If an institution has a number of stages to the editorial process (e.g and editor to check the metadata, followed by a different(?) editor to check copyright), they should be able to configure editor roles and buffer stages.

Expected: Beta 2 (tentative)

User Profiles

For those without institutional 'people' pages, EPrints will generate a page for each user containing information including a list of publications and perhaps a picture.

Expected: Beta 2 (tentative)

Institutional GeoLoc Authority and Autocompletion

Implementation of an optional institution autocompletion script (for e.g. conference repositories) that autocompletes on an authority file containing canonical institution names and coordinates.

Expected as extension only: Beta 1

REST Interface

Creating a proper REST interface for EPrints CRUD operations. E.g. http://devel.eprints.org/eprint/103/creators/1/name/family.txt will return a text form of the family component of the namer of the first creator of eprint id 103.

Confirmed: Alpha 1 (Currently READ and simple PUT)

Linked Data Support

EPrints is now represented on the Linked Data map (see http://linkeddata.org/ ). It currently has an RDF exporter, but it lacks a systematic way of coining appropriate institutionally-blessed URIs for individuals, projects etc. A new version of the RDF plugin will be released which enables repositories to participate in the international linked data effort.

Expected: Beta 2

SPARQL End Point

Tied in with the above, this will provide a new semantic endpoint to EPrints.

Expected: Beta 2

ISI Citation Data Management

As well as Google Scholar citation data, EPrints 3.2 adds the capability of managing Thomson ISI citation data. EPrints will harvest citation data, displaying it on abstract pages. Items can be searched by citation range, searches can be ordered by citation impact and aggregate reports of citation statistics (including h-index) can be produced per research group or subject area using the citation report export plugin.

Confirmed as plug-in/extension: Alpha 1

Unit Tests and Performance Profiles

Introduced in the core to enable more reliable and faster development of the next versions of EPrints. These basically represent an improvement of internal quality control of parts of the EPrints codebase. These unit tests are code based and not function based (as these already exist).