[IRTalk] Rhodes University's Digital Commons

[Ina Smith]

Dear Wynand,
Thank you for sharing this. This is a very positive development and reflects a more mature scholarly communication ecosystem. The separation of platforms by content type makes sense, as research outputs, heritage collections, monographs, journals, conference papers and datasets each require different workflows and functionality.
It would be useful to understand how the platforms will be integrated in terms of metadata, discovery, preservation, persistent identifiers and user guidance, so that the ecosystem functions as a coordinated whole rather than as separate systems. Can you perhaps add to this? Or how about a webinar on this? It would be great to see how you implement it.
Dear Wouter,
Thanks for sharing that CHELSA is busy undertaking a library technology landscape survey. It would be great to know the outcome, once ready. Is a national federated harvester for research output systems also on the table?
With kind regards,
Ina

________________________________
From: IRTalk <irtalk-bounces at lists.lib.sun.ac.za> on behalf of Klapwijk, WOUTER [wklap at sun.ac.za] <Wklap at sun.ac.za>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2026 07:39
To: irtalk at lists.lib.sun.ac.za <irtalk at lists.lib.sun.ac.za>
Subject: Re: [IRTalk] Rhodes University's Digital Commons

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Hi Wynand,



Thanks for passing on the below recently. It is once again clear how many commonalities there are in our various software ecosystems at HE institutions in SA. We can even see a form of consolidation around similar platforms the past 5 – 10 years, which is good for ecosystem support in the sector.



This information is also useful for the library technology landscape survey the CHELSA Digital Transformation and Innovation task team is going to undertake shortly – it will help us prepopulate it.



Still so much experiences we can learn from each other, especially in this cybersecurity intensive and AI enhanced world we are operating in currently.



Regards,



Wouter Klapwijk

Director: Information Technology Services | Direkteur: Inligtingstegnologiedienste

Library and Information Service | Biblioteek-en Inligtingsdiens
021-8084378 | 0833888270

Stellenbosch University | Universiteit Stellenbosch
South Africa | Suid-Afrika
www.sun.ac.za| Find us on social media<https://www.sun.ac.za/english/Pages/Social-Media.aspx> | Vind ons op sosiale media<https://www.sun.ac.za/afrikaans/Pages/Social-Media.aspx>

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From: IRTalk <irtalk-bounces at lists.lib.sun.ac.za> On Behalf Of Wynand Van Der Walt
Sent: Tuesday, 09 June 2026 06:59
To: irtalk at lists.lib.sun.ac.za
Subject: [IRTalk] Rhodes University's Digital Commons



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Dear Community Members,



For your information, in 2025, RULIS initiated the implementation of a multi-platform digital repository ecosystem to replace Vital Repository III. The new environment introduces DSpace (research outputs), Omeka (digital archives and curated heritage content), and Open Monograph Press (OMP) for monographs—alongside existing publishing and data platforms (OJS, OCS, Figshare).



Platform

Primary Use

Purpose

URL

DSpace

Research Outputs

Open access repository for theses, articles, and scholarly works

https://researchrepository.ru.ac.za/home

Omeka

Digital Archives

Curated heritage, historical materials and exhibits

https://digitalarchives.ru.ac.za/

OMP

Scholarly Monographs

Digital publication of books and series

https://monographs.ru.ac.za/

OJS (existing)

Scholarly Journals

Peer-reviewed journal management and publishing support

https://journal.ru.ac.za/

OCS (existing)

Conference Papers

Hosting of conference proceedings

https://journal.ru.ac.za/

Figshare (existing)

Research Data

Repository for datasets and supplementary materials

https://researchdata.ru.ac.za/





Regards,



Wynand

[https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/styleassets/email/Rhodes_Logo.png]

Wynand Van Der Walt
Senior Manager: Innovation, Systems & Collections
Schedule a meeting with me<https://calendar.app.google/w83EUzEmS7QjBw1w8>
Rhodes University Library
t: +27 (0) 46 603 8281
c: +27 (0) 78 304 0526
Library, Artillery Road, Makhanda, 6139
PO Box 94, Makhanda, 6140, South Africa
www.ru.ac.za/library<https://www.ru.ac.za/>

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