Welcome to the June 2025 DSpace newsletter! There has been a lot going on in the DSpace Community since the last newsletter, and we are happy to share the latest news and updates with you. In this newsletter, you will read about a major new release of DSpace, learn about upcoming community events, and much more!

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TECHNICAL UPDATE

DSpace 9.0

We are pleased to announce the release of DSpace 9.0! Released on May 23, 2025, DSpace 9.0 contains new features, performance improvements, accessibility improvements, and bug fixes.

DSpace 9.0 had over 400k lines of code changed and 89 unique individuals contributing to either the frontend or backend. Many thanks to the community for the contributions to these releases. To download DSpace 9.0, access the release notes.

Release Announcement 9.0 | Release Notes 9.0

Coming Soon: DSpace 8.2 and 7.6.4 Maintenance Releases

In late June or early July, we expect to release both 8.2 and 7.6.4 to provide general maintenance to the 8.x and 7.6.x platforms, respectively.

These minor releases will only include bug fixes, along with accessibility improvements and performance enhancements. As such, they should be an easier upgrade for existing 8.x and 7.6.x DSpace sites. Keep an eye out on our DSpace Community Google Group for these release announcements.

DSpace and DSpace-CRIS intent to investigate merger

In case you missed it, DSpace Governance announced an intent to investigate a merger of DSpace and DSpace-CRIS in October of 2024. You can find the announcement on the DSpace Community Google Group. Governance has since completed the process of forming two planning groups to undertake this investigation: one focused on strategic issues related to a potential merger, and one to develop a technology roadmap for potentially combining the codebases. Both planning groups have begun their work and updates will be shared with the community as new developments occur.

CERTIFIED PARTNER NEWS

Please email us with your news to add to the DSpace News area of the website and our social accounts.

MEMBERSHIP

Is your institution interested in becoming a DSpace member? Learn more about the benefits of becoming a member and how to do so on our website.

Join today!

DSpace COMMUNITY UPDATES

DSpace @OR2025

Tim Donohue, DSpace Technical Lead, and Holger Lenz, DSpace Program Coordinator, will be at this year’s Open Repositories Conference from June 15-18, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

They will be hosting a DSpace Developer Meet-Up and Q&A Workshop on Sunday, June 15, 2025.

Learn more at OR2025 Workshops program page.

National User Group Updates

The Swiss National User Group will hold its next virtual meeting on June 25. The gathering offers a space for local adopters to connect, exchange ideas, and hear updates from the wider community. As part of the agenda, Holger Lenz, DSpace Program Coordinator, will present on the progress of the ongoing discussions around the potential merger of DSpace and DSpace-CRIS.

The Polish National User Group held its inauguration meeting from May 18-20, 2025, at the Nosalowy Park Hotel & SPA in Zakopane. The goal of the meeting was to integrate the DSpace community in Poland, discuss needs of Polish scientific institutions related to the development of DSpace, and to exchange experiences of local repository managers. During the meeting, the official Polish DSpace User Group will be established and the leaders of the group will be chosen.

To learn more about this meeting, please visit the news section of the DSpace website.

The Mexican DSpace Users Group invites you to the new, self-paced online course “Transforming Your Repositories: Manage DSpace 8x.” Throughout this course, you will learn, step by step, how to install, configure, and upgrade to DSpace 8.x; master interface customization, editorial workflows, and integrations with research services such as ORCID, DOI registration, and OAI-PMH; and explore best practices for digital preservation and Open Science visibility using real-world Latin-American repository cases. A shareable digital certificate can be earned upon successful completion of the graded activities.

To learn more and read this announcement in Spanish, please click here.

Para obtener más información y leer este anuncio en español, haga clic aquí.

REGISTRY

Is your DSpace repository listed in the registry? Help us maintain reliable information on the community of DSpace users around the world by registering your repository today.

GET INVOLVED

DSpace Community Advisory Team (DCAT)

The DSpace Community Advisory Team holds monthly open Zoom meetings for repository managers, developers and users of DSpace.

DSpace Developers Meeting

DSpace Committers and Community Developers hold a weekly meeting every Thursday. Anyone is welcome to attend. Topics may include release planning, reviewing upcoming code changes, and other technical discussions.

A Coffee with Holger: Meet-Up with the DSpace Program Coordinator

Do you have questions about the DSpace Community? Do you wonder how to get involved? Are you interested in becoming a DSpace member, but are not sure where to start? Join us for the monthly virtual DSpace Coffee Hour!

This event series, which takes place on every 3rd Tuesday of the month, provides an informal opportunity to ask questions, discuss ideas and suggestions, connect with other members in the DSpace Community, or just say "Hi" and introduce yourself.

Watch out for announcements and more information on the DSpace Community Google Group!

ABOUT LYRASIS

Lyrasis, a nonprofit membership organization, partners with member libraries, archives and museums to create, access, preserve and manage information, with an emphasis on digital content, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing operations and technology, and increasing buying power. Lyrasis is the organizational home of DSpace and coordinates this newsletter.