For those of you who’ve already implemented a digital repository or are currently considering your options, Islandora is a robust solution that can manage multiple format types and is scalable for all sizes of digital content from small collections to very large digital repositories.

We know many of you are considering migrating from your existing repository, to Islandora or another platform, and we want to support your organization as you go through that process. To assist with this transition, LYRASIS will create an online group to act as a community support mechanism for institutions, who can share similar challenges and opportunities (stay tuned).

What is Islandora?

Islandora is a scalable open-source digital content management solution that allows enables libraries, archives and museums to manage, describe, and discover digital assets using best practice workflows and metadata standards. It’s used by hundreds of cultural heritage organizations and academic institutions both in the United States and around the globe. If you’d like a general overview of Islandora, read this LYRASIS Now article, or visit the Islandora wiki page.

Why choose Islandora?

  • Scalability and flexibility in one easy to use platform: Islandora marries the best of two open source software solutions, Fedora Commons with a Drupal front-end, giving you the best of both worlds. Fedora provides a scalable preservation repository, and Drupal provides an easy to use, flexible front end that can be easily customized for the variety of content your organization manages.
  • Easy to use solution packs to meet your specific use case: Using Solution Packs, Islandora efficiently manages a variety of digital assets (aka content types) to meet your needs, such as books, video, images, newspapers, and audio. Each content type has a specific Solution Pack for easy implementation. Some of the more popular Solution Packs LYRASIS installs for our hosted instances includes:
  • Open Source and Community Supported: The biggest benefit of Islandora is that it is an open source solution with a strong and active community, who contributes code and shares documentation. Click here to learn more about the Islandora Community.

At LYRASIS, we are actively engaged within the growing open source, community-supported software movement present in the library, archive and museum professions. We have resources that can help you understand the features and benefits of using Islandora, and can assist your institution with the management of your Islandora repository. LYRASIS can assist you with the migration, installation, management and maintenance of your Islandora instance, using automated tools to move data from legacy systems onto Islandora.

If you are looking for more information about Islandora, I hope you’ll register for our Islandora Hosting Services Demo on September 12th or click through to this recorded session that introduces Islandora and some of its users. Also, feel free to view the public sites for Islandora instances that are proudly hosted by LYRASIS: Coastal Carolina University and the Palos Verdes Library District.

You can also contact me at madeline.sheldon@lyrasis.org to learn more about Islandora or the services offered by LYRASIS.