Islandora Now: The Growth and Flexibility of the Modern Repository

The Growth and Flexibility of the Modern Repository

Kicking off our Future Proof Repositories webinar series, this session offers a comprehensive look at the flexibility and power of modern Islandora. Whether you’re just starting your digital repository journey or looking to scale an existing implementation, this deep dive introduces you to the core features and best practices for using Islandora as a digital asset management solution. From its seamless integration with Drupal to its support for diverse content types, configurable metadata, and multi-institutional collaboration, Islandora continues to evolve as a flexible and secure framework for digital preservation and access. Read on for highlights from the session and discover how institutions are using Islandora to manage, share, and safeguard their digital collections.

Islandora is powerful open-source framework for managing digital assets.

Top Takeaways from this Webinar

Islandora is Powered by Drupal

Islandora is now tightly integrated with Drupal, one of the world’s largest open-source content management systems.
This integration makes Islandora highly configurable and extensible—without requiring users to be developers.
Through configuration and community-contributed modules, institutions can tailor their repository’s appearance, search functionality, and metadata workflows.

Flexible and User-Friendly Repository Configuration

Out-of-the-box templates include preloaded objects, sample configurations, and customizable themes.
Institutions can easily manage their branding, metadata fields, object viewers, and navigation through the UI.
Simple configuration settings allow both novice and advanced users to adjust search facets, display options, and content structures.

Versatile Content Handling

Islandora supports a wide range of digital formats: audio, video, PDFs, collections, books, newspapers, images, 3D objects, paged content, compound and binary objects, and more.
It's also used to store and manage specialized content such as theses, dissertations, journal articles, archival media, and research data.
The platform automatically assigns appropriate viewers like Mirador, OpenSeadragon, and PDF.js based on content type.
Objects can belong to multiple collections and be edited or expanded post-ingest.

Robust Metadata Management

Supports MODS, Dublin Core, QDC, and other metadata standards.
Metadata fields are configurable and can be toggled for public visibility.
Persistent identifiers like DOIs, Handles, and ARKs are supported.
Metadata crosswalks allow for clean migrations from other systems, with opportunities to restructure legacy data.

Bulk Ingest Made Easy

Spreadsheet ingest is supported and can be processed manually or via deferred mode (recommended), which queues imports for batch processing.
Users can monitor ingest progress, error messages, and rollback failed items for smoother operations.

Consortial and Collaborative Capabilities

Islandora supports multi-tenant repositories, allowing consortia to manage multiple member organizations in a single system.
Examples from Northern Michigan University and Atlanta University Center showcase how Islandora enables centralized management with localized branding and access for each institution.

Preservation and Security Features

Discovery Garden’s hosted solution meets NDSA Level 4 preservation standards.
Includes fixity checks, virus scanning, WAF protection, endpoint detection, and revision tracking.
Embargo settings allow administrators to restrict access at the object or collection level, with customizable expiry dates and IP exceptions.

Advanced Permissions and Workflow Control

Granular permissions can be assigned at the object, user, or collection level.
Site administrators can define roles, restrict access, and configure what different users can view or edit.
Embargoes and publication settings give curators full control over visibility and timing.

Ready to see what Islandora can do for your organization?

Whether you’re managing a single repository or supporting a multi-institution consortium, Islandora offers the flexibility, scalability, and support you need. Contact Discovery Garden to schedule a demo, start a project discovery session, or learn more about how we can help you build a future-proof digital repository.

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