Research On The Application And Evaluation Of Content Management OSS In Digital Library

Against the background of information age, global sharing of information resources notonly functions to meet the extensive demand of information users, but also has establisheditself as a future trend. However, limitations including commercial interests, protection ofintellectual property rights, and so on are making the sharing of information resources just arelative trend. On the one hand, the massive growth of the information has laid a solidquantity foundation for the possibility of knowledge sharing; on the other hand, suchphenomena as information monopoly, information isolation, and information overload arehindering the process of smooth application of information. As nonprofit cultural institutions,public libraries have been committed to provide users with a wide range of knowledgeservices, and various cutting-edge technologies and innovative methods are constantlyemployed in content management and information services of digital libraries. The wideapplication of open source technology in the digital library has constituted a huge challengeto the digital library systems based on closed source software mode, especially in currenttime when digital libraries are facing a historic choice as a result of the rapid expansion ofopen-minded thinking. A conflict has arisen between nonprofit open source movement andcommercial software development. Under such circumstances, it has become a critical issueof digital library research how to select and apply the appropriate open source software toconstruct digital library, to support the content information collection, compiling and servicesystems, and to offer users more convenient information service.Basic problems explored in this paper focus on application and evaluation of opensource software for content management in digital libraries. Three key points are included asfollows: First is concerned with a general introduction of open source software for contentmanagement, featuring the research topics such as the connotation and characteristics of theopen source content management software, and comparative analysis between open andclosed source software for content management; with that, the paper deals applications ofopen source software for content management, and included in this part are topics likeprinciples and scope of open source software for content management, as well as influentialfactors during the course of applying the software, and case analysis in application; the thirdkey point is about the evaluation of open source software for content management, includingthe construction, inspection and correction of evaluation system, and empirical research. Based on the research themes and objectives mentioned above, starting withintroduction of the difficulties in accessing information in the present Information Society,the competition between open and closed source software, and puzzlement bothering digitallibraries when selecting open source software, the dissertation determines its research basis,illustrating the significance of this research from both theoretical and practical aspects. Anoverview has been made to generalize the research content, ideas, methods and innovativepoints. Chapter Two contributes a literature review of both domestic and foreign relatedmaterials from three dimensions involving studies on digital library content management,studies on applications of open source software in digital libraries and studies on qualityevaluation of software used in digital libraries. Detection of spot issues and shortages ofpervious research serves as a convincing proof of the feasibility and necessity of the study inthis dissertation. Chapter Three provides theoretical basis and methodological guidance froma full-text perspective, with content management theory and technology, and softwarequality evaluation theory described in detail. During the course of specific research, anin-depth analysis is made about the important role played by the Delphi method and analytichierarchy process in construction of evaluation indicator system. Following that is adiscussion about application issues of content management open source software in digitallibraries. Chapter Four first defines the connotation, types and characteristics of the digitallibrary content management open source software. Based on the comparative analysis ofopen source and closed source software for content management, the advantages of opensource software in the digital library are highlighted. Through a systematic analysis ofelements influencing the application of content management open source software in digitallibraries, the principles and scope of content management open source software applicationin digital libraries are determined. This chapter also finishes up with empirical studies. Afterall the above mentioned preparation, sufficient both theoretically and methodologically, thewriter of the paper sets about structuring an evaluation indicator system directed at contentmanagement open source software in digital libraries, and in turn makes necessaryamendments to the system according to the results of Reliability and Validity tests. In orderto ensure the availability of the evaluation system, Chapter Six makes an analysis onimplementation and structure of the evaluation model of content management open sourcesoftware in digital libraries. Empirical evaluation of different types of content managementopen source software helps rank diversified software in the light of quality. Three types ofcontent management open source software topped the list undergo a deep comparativeanalysis. The last chapter, focusing on conclusion and outlook, summarizes the full text in asystematic way, gives concluding statements about the research findings, analyzes research inadequacy, and offers prompting suggestions for follow-up studies.With involvement of various research methods including literature survey, questionnairesurvey, expert advice, empirical research, comparative analysis, and statistical analysis, thepaper tries to achieve innovation from the following two aspects. First, based on comparativeanalysis of open source software and closed source for content management, elements whichhave impact on applications of content management open source software in digital librariesare defined from multiple perspectives, and in turn principles, scope and methods concernedwhen applying content management open source software are determined. Second, anevaluation indicator system directed at content management open source software isconstructed, which together with the empirical evaluation, provides grounds for option ofopen source software by digital libraries.