EPrints Software

 

EPrints is a free and open-source software package developed by the University of Southampton's School of Electronics and Computer Science. It enables institutions to build open access repositories compliant with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). Primarily used for institutional repositories and scientific journals, EPrints offers a platform for archiving and disseminating scholarly works. 

History

EPrints was created in 2000 as a direct outcome of the 1999 Santa Fe meeting that launched what eventually became the OAI-PMH. It was enthusiastically received and became the first and one of the most widely used free open access, institutional repository software. Version 3 of the software was officially released on 24 January 2007 at the Open Repositories 2007 Conference and was described by its developers as "a major leap forward in functionality, giving even more control and flexibility to repository managers, depositors, researchers, and technical administrators". 

Technology

EPrints is a web and command-line application based on the LAMP architecture (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Perl). It has been successfully run under Linux, Solaris, and macOS. A version for Microsoft Windows was released on 17 May 2010. Version 3 introduced a Perl-based plugin architecture for importing and exporting data, converting objects for search engine indexing, and user interface widgets. Configuring an EPrints repository involves modifying configuration files written in Perl or XML. The appearance of a repository is controlled by HTML templates, CSS stylesheets, and inline images. While EPrints is shipped with an English translation, it has been translated into other languages through language-specific XML phrase files. 

Features

Open Access Compliance: EPrints supports the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), facilitating interoperability with other repositories and search engines. 

Plugin Architecture: The software's plugin architecture allows for customization and extension, enabling users to import and export data, convert objects for search engine indexing, and add user interface widgets. 

Multilingual Support: EPrints has been translated into multiple languages, including Bulgarian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian, making it accessible to a global audience. 

Preservation Support: EPrints includes features for digital preservation, such as a 'history' function that documents all changes made to records, providing an audit trail for editorial purposes and supporting future preservation decisions. 

User-Friendly Interface: The software offers a user-friendly interface for repository managers, depositors, researchers, and technical administrators, providing control and flexibility in managing and accessing repository content. 

EPrints has been instrumental in promoting open access to scholarly works, providing institutions with a robust platform for building and managing digital repositories.

For more information visit EPrints website.