PowerPoint Presentation - CWSpace: Archiving Course Websites in DSpace





	The "Lightweight Network Interface" (LNI) is a work in progress to provide (yet) another way to gain networked access to the DSpace application-level API. Initially developed to support the requirement that "Web Services" be used on the CWSpace project (archiving MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) to DSpace), the ensuing vibrant (!) discussion regarding possible technical approaches (SOAP, RESTful, WebDAV, XML over HTTP) led us to define some high level goals for how this new interface ought to be shaped (e.g. platform-neutral; based on mature standards; readily extensible; work with (not replicate) existing remote APIs (SRW, OAI-PMH); comprehensive view of DSpace model; etc.).

	Dubbed the "Lightweight" network interface, the intent has been to largely adopt the robust and proven protocols (and "verbs") of WebDAV and HTTP, and to establish a proposed mapping of WebDAV's Resource-centric view onto the DSpace object model. (Note that a set of SOAP methods has also been developed on top of the WebDAV functionality, such that in fact either approach is supported.) The details of the resulting proposed API were posted on a lengthy page to the DSpace Wiki; a "smoketest" Java client to the LNI was posted to the CWSpace Wiki (along with detailed instructions on how to work with SSL and the LNI).

	This presentation introduces the technology, the API, the rationale for the approach, and a discussion of the mapping to the DSpace data model as well as example uses of the LNI to DSpace (e.g. submit; disseminate; copy to another collection; list collections; etc.).

	Closely related DSpace development activity of the Plugin Manager, Packager Plugins, and Crosswalk Plugins will be addressed briefly as well, as these are used in conjunction with the LNI on the CWSpace project for submission (and dissemination) of IMS Content Packages of OCW content (courseware websites).