Goobi
| Company type | Open-source software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Cultural heritage digitization |
Area served | Austria, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom |
| Products | Digitization workflow management, metadata enhancement, digital asset dissemination |
Goobi—an acronym for Göttingen online-objects binaries—is a suite of open-source software tailored to facilitate large-scale digitization initiatives within cultural heritage organizations. It supports internationally recognized standards, including METS, MODS, and other formats endorsed by the Library of Congress. The system consists of modular components that handle digitization workflow management, metadata enhancement, and public dissemination of digital assets. Its clientele encompasses archives, libraries, museums, publishers, and scanning service providers.
Structure
Goobi offers several core functionalities:
- Centralized administration of digital images
- Unified metadata management allowing cataloging and aggregation from diverse sources
- Workflow oversight tools to track progress among collaborating partners
- Interfaces for importing and exporting metadata as well as integrating external digital content
- Handling of error management, task finalization, and partner handoffs
- A platform-agnostic web application framework enabling coordination among distributed digitization collaborators worldwide
These integrated modules support seamless distributed workflow coordination across multiple organizations.
History
Approximately 40 libraries throughout Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom utilize Goobi. The software’s workflow component was historically split into two variants: a community edition maintained by German libraries and digitization vendors, and a commercial edition developed by Intranda.
In May 2016, the German association Goobi Digitalisieren im Verein e.V. renamed the community edition to Kitodo to address trademark conflicts concerning the Goobi name. Nonetheless, ongoing development of Goobi persists.