Latest Release of CONTENTdm Includes the New Flex Loader

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.