Kitodo - Digital Library Modules
The product and its functions
Kitodo is a software package for digitisation - open source, platform-independent, and royalty-free. The software is already in use in 40 libraries - in Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain.
Kitodo implements the METS/MODS profile authorized by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and can therefore be linked to a variety of presentation modules.
The software package for the cooperative and collaborative working environment is the central component and fulfils the following functionalities:
- Platform independence (web application)
- Central metadata management
- Central management of digital images
- Import and export interfaces for metadata and for external digital copies
- Controlling mechanisms
- Error messages, completion of a work step and forwarding to the next work step
Development and Community
In 2004, the software was developed under the name 'Goobi' at the Göttingen Digitisation Centre (GDZ) of the Göttingen State and University Library in order to enable workflow control and recording of metadata in mass digitisation. In order to ensure professional release management, legal and investment protection and public relations work in the interest of users and the development community, the 'Goobi. Digitalisieren im Verein e. V.', of which the Göttingen State and University Library is a member. In 2016, the association was renamed 'Kitodo. Key to digital objects e.V.' and the product name into 'Kitodo'.
From the very beginning it has been further developed by the Software and Service Development group of the Digital Library department - since 2012 in cooperation with the members of 'Goobi. Digitalisieren im Verein e. V.' and 'Kitodo. Key to digital objects e.V.', respectively. The Kitodo community is a strong community of users, software developers and service providers in digitisation projects.