OCLC has released CONTENTdm 5.4, the latest version of the popular CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software that includes the new CONTENTdm Flex Loader along with other enhancements.

Designed to complement the CONTENTdm Project Client, Flex Loader is a new Windows desktop application. It enables users to efficiently batch import large quantities of XML data in the METS/ALTO newspaper format, or the METS/ALTO monograph and eBook format, to their CONTENTdm collections. XML file formats supported by Flex Loader include the NDNP (National Digital Newspaper Program) and CCS (Content Conversion Specialists) docWorks newspaper and monograph. Compound object-level metadata and page-level metadata mapping is supported, along with support for newspaper article segmentation.

Other highlights of CONTENTdm 5.4 include new options for editing metadata for compound objects. All pages of a compound object can now be viewed and edited in a spreadsheet, giving users improved efficiency when editing compound objects.

Additionally, the Upload Manager has been improved to allow users more control of the upload process. As the upload queue is being processed, progress indicators show detailed progress of each item and the entire queue. Users also have the option to cancel the upload—either a single item or all items—and return items to the project workspace. Status of the upload persists across sessions of the Project Client, letting users continue to work while uploads progress in the background.

For those CONTENTdm users with very large digital collections, CONTENTdm 5.4 includes a new version of the FIND search engine, used by CONTENTdm (and WorldCat.org) for indexing and searching. The new version supports long-term scalability for sites with rapidly growing full-text collections by supporting automatic index partitioning along with tools for configuration and monitoring. This integrated feature will support scalability for growing collections now and in the future.

The 5.4 release, including the new Flex Loader, is available to current CONTENTdm licensees at no additional charge.

Joyce Rambo, Nylink’s Reference and Digital Collections Librarian, has been working hard on a unique set of asynchronous training sessions for participants in the South Central Regional Library Council’s collaborative digitization initiative, Tools of History. Joyce became involved in the project at the suggestion of Matthew Hogan, SCRLC’s Manager of Digital Services & Resource Sharing.
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Dates: Wednesday – Friday, August 4 – 6, 2010

Host: United States Military Academy Library, West Point, NY

The Eastern CONTENTdm Users Group Planning Committee is accepting proposals to present a pre-conference workshop, conference talks, and/or panel discussions at its 2010 Annual Meeting being held this August at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. Please consider participating as a speaker or part of a panel discussion. Proposals are due by June 1, 2010.

More information about the conference is available on its website, http://www.libraries.psu.edu/ecdmug
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OCLC is pleased to introduce CONTENTdm® Digital Collection Management Software version 5.3.

With version 5.3, additional platforms are supported for the CONTENTdm Project Client and CONTENTdm Server. The Project Client now runs on Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) and Windows Vista (64-bit), and the Server now runs on Linux (64-bit) and Windows Server 2008 R2. (For a complete list of supported systems, visit www.oclc.org/contentdm/requirements/.)
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OCLC is pleased to announce the release of CONTENTdm 5.2 with improved functionality and performance. With the new release, the CONTENTdm Project Client now supports auto updates, enabling users to get updates as quickly as they are available. It automatically checks for software updates in the background, so work is not interrupted. If updates are available, they are downloaded but not installed until the organization is ready.

"Auto update is an easy and efficient way to keep all of our staff up-to-date with the most current Project Client release," said Jennifer Ricker, Digital Collections Manager, State Library of North Carolina.

To better support text-based collections, PDF print quality can now be specified in the Project Client, enabling users to select a quality level when generating optional print versions of their compound objects. For users with large, full-text collections, several enhancements improve performance and reduce indexing times. Other enhancements include the addition of a new thesaurus, Canadian Subject Headings (CSH), and configuration options to filter hits in Usage Reports.

This new release is available to current CONTENTdm licensees at no additional charge.

CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software makes everything in digital collections available to everyone, everywhere. No matter the format—local history archives, newspapers, books, maps, slide libraries or audio/video—CONTENTdm can handle the storage, management and delivery of digital collections to users across the Web.

Learn more at www.oclc.org/contentdm/

This month, four collections from the CONTENTdm Collection of Collections are featured on the OCLC Web site. The featured collections for August are JCPenney Dynamo Digital Collection, Campi Phlegraei, Observations on the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies, Digital METRO New York and Carlton R. Stewart Slide Collection.
Digital METRO New York

[Metropolitan New York Library Resources Council]
These Digital Collections created by members of the Metropolitan New York Library Council include scrapbooks, handbills, sheet music, trade cards, religious materials, photographs, letters, and postcards. Contributing institutions include Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Public Library, CUNY Graduate Center, Greenburgh Public Library, Lehman College, Maritime College, Queens College, and Yeshiva University.
These are just a few of the many outstanding digital collections created by CONTENTdm users. To access the entire Collection of Collections go to www.oclc.org/contentdm/collections/.

Questions about CONTENTdm? Please contact OCLC’s Support department by phone at 1-800-848-5800 and follow the prompts, or by e-mail at support@oclc.org, for more information about this update.