Migrating Repository Metadata and Users: The Harvard DRS2 Project

Abstract

The Digital Repository Service (DRS), first launched in 2000, is Harvard Library's long-term preservation and access repository. The DRS is central to the Library's discovery, access and management infrastructure; and vital to digitization, reformatting and collection management workflows throughout the university.In 2008 the Library began the DRS2 project - a multi-year repository enhancement project to update to the latest technologies and digital preservation standards and practices; and to provide curators, collection managers and repository staff with significantly enhanced tools. This paper describes early findings of the last stage of the DRS2 project - the migration of the repository metadata for over 46 million files into the newly enhanced DRS, and the facilitated transition of DRS users to learning and adopting the new repository concepts and tools.