The Institutional Repository
This book covers a very topical subject. With the internet providing easy access to information, coupled with the ease of placing electronic documents on the web, the movement for open access to scholarly literature has grown dramatically. The aims of such open access are to provide free access to and free re‐use of scholarly literature. This benefits the authors who can increase their profile whilst retaining copyright over their material, the funders as their work is more widely disseminated, the research community as the opportunities of building on others' research are increased and the public who can easily read work, much of which is publicly funded.
Recently the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee published a report, Scientific Publications: Free for all? (www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/399.pdf). The Committee took written and oral evidence from a wide range of organisations and individuals on the topic of the scientific, technical and medical publishing industry. One of the Committee's recommendations was that “all UK higher education institutions establish institutional repositories on which their published output can be stored and from which it can be read, free of charge, online. It also recommends that research councils and other government funders mandate their funded researchers to deposit a copy of all of their articles in this way. The government will need to appoint a central body to oversee the implementation of the repositories; to help with networking; and to ensure compliance with the technical standards needed to provide maximum functionality. Set‐up and running costs are relatively low, making institutional repositories a cost‐effective way of improving access to scientific publications.”
The authors' premise is that “the ideal home within an institution for the institutional repository is the library. The library already possesses many of the skills needed to set up and run an institutional repository – including handling of information, metadata creation (cataloguing), and archiving. While some have predicted the decline of the academic library in the digital age, the development of institutional repositories gives the library a central role within the institution.”
The chapters cover the following topics:
the institutional repository in the digital library – the concept of repositories;
establishing a repository – making the case within your organisation for setting up a repository, particularly cost aspects;
technologies and technicalities – specifying the technical aspects;
workflow and administration – management of the repository to create a sustainable system;
advocacy – content recruitment strategies;
intellectual property – how to protect copyright ownership balanced with rights for end‐users;
case study: The Edinburgh Research Archive – discussion of the process of establishing a combined e‐theses and e‐print repository;
appendix – profiles of some major open source software packages; and
glossary and bibliography.
The publisher's web site states that the book is aimed at implementers of institution repositories; digital librarians; academic librarians; library managers; librarians; information scientists and library studies students. It is interesting that neither records managers nor archivists are listed. The authors have very appropriate practical expertise, both internationally and within the UK. I would recommend it to anyone, librarian or non‐librarian, who is either thinking of setting up a repository, or has been charged with the task of implementing a repository. The practical advice the book provides on all aspects of institutional repositories makes it ideal for that purpose.
