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What is the "Kallipos" Repository?

The "Kallipos" Repository is a website that collects books, learning aids and objects that cover the entire spectrum of scientific disciplines of higher education in Greece. The Repository concentrates material produced within the framework of the project "Hellenic Academic Electronic (Text)books”, which assigns the produced academic (text)books to the academic subjects taught. The repository aims at the systematic recording, organization and long-term preservation of the (text)books and the learning objects of the academic community.

How will the academic community exploit the Repository "Kallipos"?

The Repository will provide its users/members of the academic community the following services:

  • Electronic access to hellenic academic electronic (text)books
  • Full-text search and retrieval of content
  • Content organized into learning objects, which can be combined to synthesize innovative approaches of higher education courses
  • Long-term preservation and permanent availability of the material
What is a digital item?

A digital item is defined as the digital representation of an author’ s work (e.g. text, images, graphics, video or audio or audio-visual material), which has been collected by the Repository and is granted by the depositor to be reproduced.

How are the digital items organized?

The items are organized into five (5) broad Subject Areas:

  • "Humanities and Law - Liberal Arts and Letters"
  • "Engineering and Computer Science/Informatics"
  • "Physical Sciences"
  • "Medical Sciences - Life Sciences"
  • "Economic, Political, Social and Agricultural Sciences".

For each textbook which is available as an autonomous item, its chapters and its learning objects may also be available separately, on the grounds that they have learning value.

What are the types of digital items contained in “Kallipos”?

The Repository includes the following types of items:

  • Electronic (text)books
  • Book chapters
  • Pictures
  • Audio excerpts
  • Video
  • Mathematical objects
  • Algorithms
  • Maps
  • Tables
  • Interactive objects

The items are necessarily accompanied by a set of metadata and can be available in several formats. For example, the same set of metadata may describe an electronic (text)book (that is) available both in pdf format and in epub format.

What is metadata?

Metadata is generally data that describe other data. As far as the Repository is concerned, the metadata describe in a unified way and in a structured format, the Repository’ s items, so as to facilitate the search and the retrieval of the content.

What are the learning objects?

The learning objects are autonomous entities that can be used in learning, education or training. The learning objects can be detached and (re) used in other learning environments, in order to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

Who has access to the "Kallipos" Repository?

Access to the "Kallipos" Repository is free via the internet, without further technical constraints. Indeed, both through the GUI and through programming interface [according to the protocol (of interoperability) “Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting/OAI-PMH”], the access to the contents of the Repository (the metadata and the full digital material) is generally free, but is also subject to certain terms (of use). In particular, it depends basically on the intellectual property rights related to the items submitted. These rights are described in detail here.

What software is used?

The Repository uses Dspace (www.dspace.org), an Open Source software which is maintained and developed by an international team of programmers and constitutes a complete solution to the creation of repositories. The software that is used is the Οpen Source database "PostgreSQL" (www.postgresql.org).

What's the EPUB format and which is its basic difference with PDF?

EPUB is an open standard for electronic publishing, based on the XHTML and CSS web technologies, and is widely used by publishers for the distribution and sale of digital books. EPUB is being developed and supported by IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) and is considered the most suitable format for reading books on mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, e-readers).

The main difference between EPUB and PDF lies in the capacity of the former to adapt and rearrange the text to the dimensions of the viewing window or the reading device, just like a website does. On the contrary, a PDF file contains text, images and shapes arranged in a static, non adjustable form and organized into pages, just as they would look in a printed version.

Which are the main new features of EPUB3, when compared to EPUB2?

The third edition of the EPUB standard offers some new functionality, when compared to the previous (second) version, such as:

  • support of HTML5 new elements,
  • the ability to use MathML in order to represent mathematical formulas,
  • the ability to integrate multimedia objects (i.e. audio and video)
  • support of interactive objects coded in Javascript

How can I read an EPUB file?

All EPUB files hosted on the Kallipos Repository can be read online, via the reading software Readium, by clicking on the "View" link next to the EPUB file.

If the EPUB file is not rendered properly or you would like to view it offline, you can download it to your computer or mobile device and use (the list is not restrictive) any of the following applications: