DSpace
Copying existing item
New feature description
Users can create a new item out of an existing item instead of creating it from scratch. This in many instances can make the process quicker. The copied details of the new item can be freely edited, and the item can be saved in any collection. The copied item is not a new version of an existing item, but a new, independent one.
How it works
It works similarly to the versioning function. The button is available on the item’s options screen. Upon clicking the button, the user is transferred to the copied item’s form page with a new title: 'Title - copy'. By default, the item can be saved in the collection of the original item. However, the user also has an option to change the destination collection from a drop-down list.
Usage
1: When adding a bunch of similar items, this function can cut down the time needed to enter the data compared to starting with new blank forms for each item.
2: In some cases, an item deposited in a repository needs to be modified according to its accessibility options. The easiest way to adjust the access control is by copying an existing item. The user is able to change some metadata that is already restricted and then publish an item without any restrictions.
Contribution
We, as PCG Academia, want to develop that feature as our contribution to the DSpace 7 project.
@michdyk : We'd welcome your contribution of this feature! Please let us know if you have any questions as you start this contribution. Off the top of my head, I'd expect you may be able to reuse (or borrow) some code/concepts from the Item Versioning functionality (which is similar to a copy, but it creates a new copy of the item as a new version of that Item.) That said, it's likely you'd need to enhance the REST API & UI to add this feature.
