DSpace community Announcement: DSpace & DSpace-CRIS Merger Approved
On November 19, the DSpace Leadership Group approved moving forward with a merger of DSpace and DSpace-CRIS. Prior to this vote, the DSpace Steering Group also approved the merger on November 12. With both Governance groups voting in favor, the merger of the two platforms is now officially confirmed.
Background
This decision follows several months of analysis and consultation led by two Merger Planning Groups, which explored both the strategic and technical implications of unifying the two platforms. Their reports helped guide Governance toward this next step in aligning our strategic goals, reducing duplication of effort, and building a single, stronger, and more sustainable DSpace.
What Does the Merger Mean for DSpace?
The merger will take place over two major releases — beginning with DSpace 10.0 and concluding with DSpace 11.0. The result will be a single, unified platform called DSpace, which will incorporate the strengths of both DSpace and DSpace-CRIS. Institutions will be able to configure which features they wish to enable or disable, allowing each installation to operate in a way that best meets local needs. This means an institution can choose a setup that behaves much like traditional DSpace, one that incorporates more DSpace-CRIS-style functionality, or an approach somewhere in between.
DSpace for Digital Libraries: the enhancement of Natural History and Anatomical Collections with DSpace-GLAM
The cultural heritage preserved by Italian universities is vast and varied and often includes, in addition to books, archival and artistic assets, naturalistic (botanical, mineralogical) and anatomical collections.
Managing naturalistic and anatomical heritage represents a challenging yet stimulating task for Digital Libraries: ensuring interoperability with other documentation while maintaining strict adherence to the specific standards of each domain.
Use Cases
In addition to other scientific collections, Digital Library PAVIA hosts digitized plant specimens from the Herbarium Universitatis Ticinensis. These include the Herbarium of Fulgenzio Vitman, dating back to the 18th century—likely the oldest herbarium specimens preserved by a Lombard institution (https://www.bibliotecadigitale.unipv.eu/cris/fonds/fonds12579/fondsinformation.html). DSpace-GLAM made it possible to link the scholar’s works with studies related to his activity.
DSpace community webinar: how to use the Matomo Integration in your DSpace repository
Would you like to find out how to use theMatomo Integrationin your DSpace repository? Join the DSpace community for this free, end-of-the-year virtual webinar showcasing Matomo! Matomo is a GDPR-compliant, privacy-first Google Analytics alternative built into the core of DSpace 9.
The integration has been developed and donated to the DSpace community by 4Science in collaboration with the University of Maryland.
When?
📅 Tuesday, December 9, at 15:00 UTC (10:00 am EST | 16:00 CST | 20:30 pm IST). The webinar will last one hour. To add this event to your calendar, visit the DSpace websiteand click “add to calendar”.
What?
👉 In this session, we will take you on a concise walkthrough of the plugin — from its technical and conceptual foundations to the installation and configuration process in DSpace, and finally a live demonstration of the Matomo interface and the kinds of analytics insights it provides.
After the presentation, there will be time for questions from the audience.
Who?
👥 The session will be hosted by Holger Lenz (DSpace Program Coordinator) and the following presenters:
- Giuseppe Digilio (4Science, DSpace Platinum Service Provider)
- Amy Swackhamer (University of Maryland Libraries, DSpace Bronze Member)
- David Steelman (University of Maryland Libraries, DSpace Bronze Member)
How can I sign up?
📝 This webinar will be held via Zoom. Registration is required to attend. To sign up, please fill out theregistration form.
4Science at the 2025 DLF forum: a recap
4Science was Silver sponsor at the 2025 DLF Forum in Denver (nov16-19). It was the third consecutive year that 4Science decided to support this great community. It has been a great conference full of very engaging discussions and presentations. It is always a great pleasure to have the opportunity to meet in person.
We would like to thank the DLF team to make this event possible and all the participants!
This was our last conference of the year. Stay tuned for the 2026 conferences and we hope to see you around the world!
