Upgrading UVicSpace, the University of Victoria Libraries’ institutional repository
Date
2026
Authors
Winter, Caroline
Ritchie, Amelia
Kehoe, Inba
Szabo, Danice
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Partnership
Abstract
This case study describes the process we undertook at the University of Victoria between fall 2023 and spring 2024 to upgrade our institutional repository’s software from DSpace version 6.4 to 7.6.1. The open-source software had reached the end of its developer-support period, and some features were no longer functional. This new version offered several new and improved features that we were excited about. We provide a short history about our institutional repository; a literature review including an environmental scan of other Canadian repositories using DSpace; an explanation of our implementation strategy, user interface upgrades, workflow, and submission form changes; training we offered to our major stakeholders; the outcomes of our project; and some thoughts on future directions. We also share our lessons learned from this major upgrade of UVicSpace with the goal of helping other groups upgrade to DSpace 7 or undertake a similar repository upgrade or migration project.
Description
Keywords
University of Victoria, DSpace, institutional repository, upgrade, user interface design
Citation
Winter, C., Ritchie, A., Kehoe, I., & Szabo, D. (2026). Upgrading UVicSpace, the University of Victoria Libraries’ institutional repository. Partnership, 21(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v20i1.8280