A presentation given at the Open Repositories conference in 2010. In part, the proposal reads and While repositories provide obvious benefits in hosting and managing content, it is equally clear that there is no “one size fits all” solution to the range of digital asset management needs at a typical institution, much less across institutions. A system that supports the submission, approval and dissemination of electronic theses and dissertations, for example, has demonstrably different requirements than a digitization workflow solution, an e-science data repository, or media preservation and access system. There is a clear need in the repository community to readily develop and deploy content-, domain-, and institution-specific solutions that integrate the flexibility and richness of customized applications and workflows with the underlying power of repositories for content management, access and preservation. This paper will provide an overview of Hydra’s philosophy, architecture, and components, as well as demonstrations of various Hydra installations. The paper will also provide a progress report on Hydra development to date and its overall roadmap, as well as provide observations on the successes and challenges of community-based development of shared repository solutions.
A presentation given at the Open Repositories conference in 2009. Part of the proposal reads and Repositories have proven themselves as powerful tools for managing digital content in many different contexts. But experience has also shown that there are real, practical limits in trying to extend a single repository solution to meet the manifold needs of most institutions for their full range of digital content and use cases. Relatively narrow and inflexible application front ends can be used to create single-purpose repository-powered solutions, but they do not lend themselves to being quickly and easily repurposed to meet variations in content type or user interactions. There is a clear business need for a flexible, reusable application framework that can support the rapid development of multiple systems tailored to distinct needs, but powered by a common underlying repository. Recognizing this common need, Stanford University, the University of Hull and the University of Virginia are collaborating on “Project Hydra”, a three-year effort to create an application and middleware framework that, in combination with an underlying Fedora repository, will create a reusable environment for running multifunction, multipurpose repository-powered solutions. This presentation will provide demonstrations of the work done to date, including of the prototype ETD application, as well as the set of content models and disseminators that the project has defined so far. The presentation will also present links to the project’s publicly accessible documentation and open source code, as well as solicit the constructive input from community members who may be interested in the project or its outcomes.
A combined slide deck of the short reports from Interest and Working Groups at Hydra Connect 2015. Archivists Interest Group Digital Preservation Interest Group Geospatial Interest Group Hydra GIS Data Modeling Working Group Metadata Working Group Page Turner Interest/Working Group Service Management Interest Group User Experience Interest Group Web Presence Interest Group