Installing this plugin makes the data in your Omeka.net site available for other systems to harvest, as part of the Open Archives Initiative. This could be useful if you plan to migrate collections data from an Omeka.net site to another website in the future, or to collaborate across organizations and share data.

The OaiPmhRepository plugin exposes metadata for Omeka items using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.

The repository plugin currently supports two metadata formats:

  • Dublin Core (oai_dc): This is required by the OAI-PMH specification for all repositories. Omeka metadata fields are mapped one-to-one with fields for this output format, and it is the preferred format to use with the plugin.
  • CDWA Lite (cdwalite): The mapping between Omeka’s metadata and CDWA Lite metadata is more complicated, and certain fields may not be populated correctly. The chief advantage of using CDWA Lite output is that file URLs can be output in a controlled format, unlike Dublin Core. Harvesters may therefore be able to harvest or link to files, not just metadata.

Configure OAI-PMH Repository
1. Install the plugin and click Configure button.

  • Repository name: this will be filled in automatically, and is the name of your OAI-PMH repository. You may edit this if you choose. This value is sent as part of the response to an Identify request, and it is how the repository will be identified by well-behaved harvesters.
  • Namespace identifier: this value will be filled in automatically, and you may not edit this field. This will be used to form globally unique IDs for the exposed metadata items. This value is required to be a domain name you have registered. Using other values will generate invalid identifiers.
  • Expose files: Checking this box determines whether the repository should give harvesters the ability to access the files described by the metadata with a direct URL to all the files associated with an item.