OR2012 Developer Challenge:
Cross-Repository Mobile Application

 
 
Petr Knoth and Vojtech Robotka from the Open University collaborated on an idea for a mobile application to search and explore full-text resources stored in Open Access repositories, which Petr presented at the DevCSI Open Repositories 2012 Developer Challenge.
 

In his original entry, Petr gave the following description of his idea:
 

We would like to pitch the idea of a mobile application that would allow people to search and explore full-text resources stored across Open Access repositories. The full-text of each resource can be downloaded to the mobile device (phone or tablet) and can be used for off-line reading. For example, it can be added to the iBooks application on iOS devices or viewed in Acrobat Reader on Android devices. Since all resources come from Open Access repositories, the service doesn’t require any subscription and is completely free of charge. The service provides benefits for both consumers of content (researchers, students, etc.) as well as repositories themselves. After setting up a repository and registering it with this service, the repository content is immediately available from the mobile devices. No need to install any code on the repository side.

The application should be available for the two main mobile operating systems (Android and iOS) and should work on both tablets and smartphones. Because iOS applications are developed in Objective C and Android applications in Java, it is necessary to develop two clients and register them in the iTunes Store and the Android Market (Play Store). These clients need to be supported by a server application that will provide a seamless layer over Open Access repository content. This application will provide an API for the mobile clients.

 

Live Demo Links

 
During his pitch, Petr gave a live demonstration of his work on this idea, which is available here.

Petr also provided the following links to provide some background context to this idea:

 

Further Development

 
Are you interested in collaborating with Petr or discussing how this idea could be taken further?

Please leave a comment on this page.
 
 

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