Welcome to the September 2025 DSpace newsletter! This edition of the quarterly DSpace newsletter is full of exciting news and updates from our community. In this newsletter, you will learn about new DSpace maintenance releases, welcome new DSpace member institutions, and find out about a brand new webinar series that fosters exploration and connection within the community.

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TECHNICAL UPDATES

Four maintenance releases have been released since the June 2025 edition of the DSpace newsletter:

DSpace 9.1 | DSpace 8.2 | DSpace 7.6.4 | DSpace 7.6.5

DSpace 9.1

Released on July 15, 2025, DSpace 9.1 contains security fixes, bug fixes and improved language support to the 9.x platform. No new features are provided. This release should be an easy upgrade for sites already running 9.x.

Release Announcement 9.1 | Release Notes 9.1

(To download DSpace 9.1, access the release notes)

DSpace 8.2

Released on July 15, 2025, DSpace 8.2 contains security fixes, performance improvements, accessibility improvements and bug fixes to the 8.x platform. No new features are provided. This release should be an easy upgrade for sites already running 8.x.

Release Announcement 8.2 | Release Notes 8.2

DSpace 7.6.4

Released on July 15, 2025, DSpace 7.6.4 contains security fixes, performance improvements, accessibility improvements and bug fixes to the 7.6.x platform. No new features are provided. This release should be an easy upgrade for sites already running 7.6.x

Release Announcement 7.6.4 | Release Notes 7.6.4

DSpace 7.6.5

Released on July 22, 2025, this small release fixes a severe, backend logging issue that was occurring in 7.6.4 after an upgrade to log4j version 2.25.0. This logging issue only impacts version 7.6.4, as this is the only DSpace release to use log4j 2.25.0. The issue is resolved by upgrading to log4j 2.25.1.

The 7.6.5 release only includes minor dependency updates. No new features are provided.

Release Announcement 7.6.5 | Release Notes 7.6.5

Keep an eye out on our DSpace Community Google Group for release announcements.

DSpace COMMUNITY UPDATES

Member Updates

We are excited to welcome two new DSpace members for the 2025-26 membership year. The University of Washington has joined DSpace as a Gold level member and Virginia Tech has joined as a Silver level member. Please join us in welcoming both institutions as our newest additions to the list of DSpace member institutions.

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.

Learn more about the benefits of becoming a DSpace member

DSpace and DSpace-CRIS intent to investigate merger

Discussions about the potential merger of DSpace and DSpace-CRIS remain ongoing.

No decision has been made at this point whether the merger will or will not occur. We do not anticipate any decision until the Strategic and Technology Planning Groups complete their work by the end of the year (October - December 2025).

In an update to the community, DSpace Governance Chair Maureen Walsh recently shared the Strategic Vision Document, the Strategy Planning Group’s central deliverable. This document outlines a long-term strategic direction and goals of a potential merged product (DSpace).

Meeting agendas and meeting notes of both planning groups are publicly available and can be accessed via the Lyrasis wiki.

New Webinar Series

We are excited to introduce DSpace Deep Dive, a brand new webinar series for the DSpace community! This new series will feature everything from migration case studies to deep explorations of DSpace features, community best practices, and more. We are excited to see you there! To learn more and to sign up for upcoming webinars, visit the DSpace website.

View Upcoming Webinars | Present at a Webinar

Community Events

DSpace 9.x Q&A Webinar

Have questions about DSpace 9? Watch a past webinar hosted by Tim Donohue, DSpace Technical Lead, and Holger Lenz, DSpace Program Coordinator, on Wednesday, September 3 to get your questions answered.

Exploring the Potential Merger of DSpace and DSpace-CRIS (Q+A)

Don’t miss this! Join us for an interactive Q&A session on September 30, 2025 (14:00 UTC), where members of the DSpace and DSpace-CRIS Merger Planning Groups will share their work to date and provide space for the DSpace(-CRIS) community to ask questions, raise concerns, and discuss the future of the platforms. Watch out for registration details posted via the Community Google Group and on the DSpace Deep Dive webpage.

Webinar: Moving From bepress to DSpace — A Migration Story

October 15, 2025 at 14:00 UTC

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries migrated ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst from bepress’ Digital Commons to Atmire-hosted DSpace (7.x) over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year. This presentation will cover the development and implementation of our migration plan as well as our process for fully implementing our new DSpace instance.

CERTIFIED PARTNER NEWS

If we missed any news, please email us with your news to add to the DSpace News area of the website and our social accounts.

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.