Repository systems

Last updated Sept 2006

These pages contain links to projects which have created repository systems (i.e. software that can be used to store, manage and serve learning resources) based on the standards supported by this SIG. selection criteria:


 * Must be relevant to UK Further and Higher Education
 * Must support relevant interoperability standards for learning resources, e.g. IEEE LOM, IMS content packages
 * Must offer a stand-alone repository, not tied to a VLE/MLE/LMS.

Disclaimer

Inclusion on this list does not constitute and endorsement or recommendation; omission from this list should not be taken to imply criticism. Quotes are selected from the product websites. All trademarks are acknowledged.

BELTS
"The Basic E-Learning Tool Set (BELTS) has been developed by The Le@rning Federation (TLF) to demonstrate the distribution, management and use of online curriculum content and to aid investigation of requirements for e-learning environments by Australian and New Zealand school jurisdictions.

BELTS currently provides a limited set of tools, including:
 * A content repository
 * Basic activity creation, using lessons
 * Basic group management, using classes
 * Content to curriculum outcomes matching (the curriculum organiser)
 * Downloading of content from The Le@rning Federation's Exchange repository of online curriculum content
 * Content replication from one BELTS to another, and System administration."

URL: http://belts.sourceforge.net/index.html

Released: 2001 (latest version 2005)

COL LOR
"Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is creating an Open Source Learning Object Repository (LOR) based on integrating 2 open-source software packages: pakXchange, and eRIB. It provides an online database of learning content and the LOR software to Commonwealth countries, free of charge. Institutions or governments can establish a shared repository by accessing the free open source software from COL's LOR."

URL: http://www.col.org/lor

Released: 2005

Notes: Canadian development operating in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning. Software provides both local repository and federated search facilities.

Desire2Learn LOR
"A standards-based learning object repository to store, tag, search, and reuse learning objects. The D2L Learning Object Repository technology incorporates industry standards, such as SCORM, CanCore, IMS, and others."

URL: http://www.desire2learn.com/products/products_learning_objects.html

Released: (Company founded 1999)

DSpace
"DSpace is a groundbreaking digital repository system that captures,stores, indexes, preserves, and redistributes an organization's research material in digital formats." DSpace is free, open source software, developed initially by MIT Libraries and Hewlett Packard, and is widely used for institutional archives of research output. DSpace implements Dublin Core metadata, OAI-PMH, with work on METS and support underway.

URL: http://dspace.org/

Released: 2002

Fedora
"Fedora is a general purpose repository service developed jointly by The University of Virginia Library and Cornell University. The Fedora project is devoted to the goal of providing open-source repository software that can serve as the foundation for many types of information management systems." All Fedora functionality is exposed as web services with REST and SOAP interfaces.

URL: http://www.fedora.info/

Released: 2003

Elated
"Elated is a lightweight, general-purpose application for managing digital files. ELATED is built on top of the Fedora Repository System, and could be used as a digital assets management system, an institutional repository, or to meet other collection archiving, publishing and earching needs.

Elated's goals are:
 * Support the use of the Fedora Repository System in small liberal arts colleges by offering a friendly, easy-to-use web interface that requires no development or programming resources
 * Implement minimalist content models for general-purpose use
 * Not to compete with Fedora in the area of key services, but to offer interfaces to Fedora services wherever possible "

URL: http://elated.sourceforge.net/

Released: 2004

GIUNTI Labs eXact Lobster
"eXact Lobster is the native XML repository module in the learn eXact suite, offering a metadata-based search engine, resource version management, content and workflow management functionalities and content production using LO web editor. Supports SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004, including IMS Metadata 1.1 and 1.2."

URL: http://www.learnexact.com/home.php

Released: 2004

GNU EPrints Archive Software
"GNU EPrints is free software which creates online archives. The default configuration is a repository of the research output of an academic institution. An EPrint archive can be adapted for many more purposes." Open source software, the development of which is lead by Southampton University. Supports Dublin Core metadata and OAI-PMH. The development team also offer professional hosting and customisation services."

URL: http://software.eprints.org/

Released: 2002

HarvestRoad Hive
"HarvestRoad Hive is an independent, federated digital repository system that manages sharing and reuse of any form of content in any online learning environment across any number of locations or countries and integrates with any Learning Management or ERP System."

URL: http://www.harvestroad.com/

Released: (Company began 1996)

Intrallect IntraLibrary
"Intrallect IntraLibrary is a Learning Object Repository (LOR) or digital repository solution for institutions, projects or subject centres. IntraLibrary can be used to manage materials in any digital format, and fully supports IMS and SCORM content packages, including inline preview of web content, and IMS/LOM metadata. There are a range of tools for editing and re-using metadata, and metadata quality can be managed using configurable submission workflows. IntraLibrary supports application profiles of LOM metadata, such as UK LOM Core, CanCore, and RDN/LTSN, and licensing models, such as Creative Commons. The system is designed to be easily integrated into a wider learning architecture, supporting a range of standard interfaces, including OAI and IMS DRI."

URL: http://www.intrallect.com/products

Released: 2002

OSLOR
"This open source learning object repository (OSLOR) project aims to... develop and implement a unique New Zealand learning object repository (LOR) based on quality open source code provided by leading educational institutions globally. It is anticipated the selected LOR will be incorporated and interact with current projects seeking open source solutions. In doing so it will reduce the dependence on and risks associated with the purchase of commercial developed products and provide a test bed connected, collaborative environment."

URL: http://www.elearning.ac.nz/

Released: Development begins August 2005'''

Notes: Builds on the work of the Open Source Courseware Initiative New Zealand (OSCINZ) project

Planet Digital Repository
PLANET DR is an eLearning project lead by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona; their digital repository implements the ECL protocol (based on IMS DRI) using web services. This provides search submit and request services, with search being based on LOM metadata.

URL: http://ants.etse.urv.es/planetdr/

Released: 2004

Saba Content
"With Saba Content™, you can create or capture existing content and learning objects, assemble and publish content in the appropriate format, deliver it, and store it for subsequent reuse." Claims extensive support for learning content metadata as defined by IEEE LOM.

URL: http://www.saba.com/products/learning/saba_content.htm

Released: (Company began 1997)

SCAM
The Standardized Content Archive Management, from the Knowledge Management Research Group at the Sweedish Royal Institute of Technology, is a is free, open source, content management system that "can be used as a web-based portfolio system or as an interoperable content archive... SCAM is completely based on RDF for its meta-data representation, and can use for example Dublin Core and IEEE LOM for meta-data, and IMS content packaging for structural information." In December 2005, SCAM 3.0 was released: SCAM Repository Development Platform (the development environment), SCAM Nimble (for rapidly setting up repositories) and SCAM Portfolio (an ePortfolio application for education supporting IMS Metadata and Content Packaging as well as DC).

URLs: http://kmr.nada.kth.se/scam, http://sourceforge.net/projects/scam

Released: 2005 (version 3.0)

teknical eLearning repository
"eLearning repository provides an intuitive system for the storage and retrieval of eLearning objects 'tagged' with meta-data. ... The unique features include tools for meta-data tagging, taxonomy browsing, locating and recreating facilities. This enables course creation in a granular form, stored with IMS / IEEE LOM meta-data for controlled or open re-use and sharing."

URL: http://www.teknical.com/Products/elearning_repository.htm

Released: 2002

WBT Systems TopClass
"WBT Systems Top Class offers e-Learning content management and assembly, personalised content delivery, learner collaboration, learner tracking and assessment, web-based training administration, and database administration." Complies with "SCORM, IMS and AICC". Using open APIs and XML interface TopClass can integrate with complementary applications to produce "best of breed" solutions."

URL: http://www.wbtsystems.com/products/topclass

Released: 1999? (Company began 1995)

Xtensis
"The Xtensis Open Architecture is a component-based framework for efficiently building learning content management, learning object repository, and specialised learning delivery systems. "

URL: http://www.xtensis.co.uk/

Released: 2001

Edutella
"This project is a multi-staged effort to scope, specify, architect and implement an RDF-based metadata infrastructure for JXTA. The first application we will focus on is a P2P network for the exchange of educational resources between German universities (including Hannover, Braunschweig and Karlsruhe), Swedish universities (including Stockholm and Uppsala), Stanford University and others."

URL: http://edutella.jxta.org

Released: 2002

LionShare
"The LionShare P2P project is an innovative effort to facilitate legitimate file-sharing among individuals and educational institutions around the world. By using Peer to Peer (P2P) technology and incorporating features such as authentication, directory servers, and owner controlled sharing of files, LionShare promises secure file-sharing capabilities for the easy exchange of image collections, video archives, large data collections, and other types of academic information. In addition to authenticated file-sharing capabilities, LionShare will also provide users with resources for organizing, storing, and retrieving digital files."

URL: http://lionshare.its.psu.edu

Released: 2005

SPLASH
"SPLASH is a distributed learning object repository/metadata tagging tool" developed as part of the "Portal for Online Objects in Learning (POOL) Project [which] is a consortium of several educational, private and public, sector organizations to develop an infrastructure for learning object repositories ... We also make our tools available for download, to help set up similar infrastructures elsewhere and to connect them to POOL. The main advantage of our solution is that it can potentially embrace all nature of individuals and organizations involved in the learning object economy."

URL: http://www.edusplash.net/

Released: 2002

Noc
"Noc is the codename for Hieraki1.0+. Noc is from ground up designed to be a multiuser learning object repository. Some of the features are:


 * Version control for every document and attachment
 * The ability to work on documents as a team of different users sharing permissions across the repository
 * RSS2 feeds and export features (HTML, yaml, textile, or simple text)
 * Moving folders and documents wherever you want by using a cut and paste method
 * Protecting documents from being editited by unauthorized users"

URL: http://www2.truman.edu/~ah428/noc.html

Released: 2005