Open Repository Blog
Another useful workshop from the RSP, this time focusing on some of the additional services available for Repository Managers:
Repository Services Day
Wednesday 23rd April, 10.00am - 4.00pm
University of Nottingham
If you are a:
• Repository manager
• Information professional
• Researcher
• Lecturer
• or are involved in administering research grants and supporting researchers,
then this day is for you!
RSP is pleased to facilitate this event which will showcase key repository
and search services available to the UK repository and research community.
It is assumed that participants will have a good understanding of Open
Access. For those not already familiar with OA an overview is available from
the SHERPA website. Although presentations will focus on the advanced use of
the services a prior knowledge of these services is not necessary.
Research funder policies vary in their requirements as do the policies of
publishers with respect to what and when articles can be deposited. The
first part of the day will focus on the services available to explain and
simplify those policies and will highlight recent developments in these
services.
After coffee the focus will move to the current availability of repositories
in the UK and will include the advanced features of repository directories
and presentations on several unique UK repositories.
The final part of the day will look at a range of search services available
for finding OA materials held in repositories both in the UK and worldwide.
The day will end with a short workshop where participants will be able to
discuss current services, formulate suggestions for improvements and
identify future services. Recommendations resulting from this workshop will
be forwarded to JISC and hence participants have an opportunity to directly
influence future service development.
As with all RSP events the day will be offered at no-cost to attendees.
There are no limits on the number of delegates who can attend from any one
institution although total numbers of delegates is limited- so book early to
ensure a place.
Draft Programme
• 09.30 Registration and refreshments
• 10.00 Welcome & Overview
• 10.10 JULIET (Bill Hubbard)
• 10.35 RoMEO (Jane Smith)
• 11.00 Refreshment break
• 11.25 OpenDOAR and ROAR (Peter Millington)
• 11.50 The Depot (Theo Andrew)
• 12.10 Jorum (tbc)
• 12.30 Lunch
• 13.30 DART-Europe (Chris Pressler)
• 13.50 OAIster and BASE (Mary Robinson)
• 14.10 Intute Repository Search (Vic Lyte)
• 14.30 Workshop: Services of the Future?
• 15.30 Discussion
• 16.00 Close
Booking
If you are interested in booking a place, please do so via the online form
at http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/FocusBooking-Services.php
Full details of the event can be found here -
http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/FocusProgramme-Services.php
Please contact support@rsp.ac.uk for further details of any of our events.
Posted by Mark Merifield at 11:01 Comments (0)
Hosted Repository Software: A seminar for repository managers
The Repositories Support Project are pleased to announce a
focussed event taking place specifically for repository managers using hosted or
commercial software solutions.
Thursday 27th March 2008, 10.00 -
1.00
SPLASH, University of Surrey, Guildford
Do you use one of the following products?
- Digital
Commons from BePress
- Digitool
from Ex Libris
- E-Prints
Services
- Fedora/VITAL
- IntraLibrary
from Intrallect
- Open
Repository from BioMed Central
Do you want to meet other repository managers who are using
the same software as you? If the answer is yes then this event is for
you!
The RSP is facilitating a half day event aimed specifically
at repository managers who work with hosted or commercial software solutions.
The programme will contain a case study from the University of Surrey exploring
some of the unique issues that face repository managers in this situation, along
with plenty of opportunity for networking and discussion as part of both the
wider group and in software based clusters.
As with all RSP events the day will be offered at no-cost
to attendees. There are no limits on the number of delegates who are welcome to
attend from any one institution although we recommend that to take the best
advantage of the event participants should be actively using, or about to take
on, one of the software solutions listed above.
To book a place please visit http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/FocusProgramme-Hosted.php
Draft Programme
09.30 Registration and refreshments1
10.00 Welcome
& housekeeping
10.10 'Using a hosted solution to develop an
institutional repository: a case study report' Dr Christine Daoutis, Project
Officer, Surrey Scholarship Online
11.00 Refreshment
break
11.20 Networking and group discussion
11.50 Software
specific discussion groups
13.00 Lunch and close
For further information about this event, or details of any
other RSP events, please contact support@rsp.ac.uk.
Posted by Mark Merifield at 17:06 Comments (0)
Getting the most out of your repository workshop
NISO, the National Information Standards Organisation have just posted the presentations from their recent one-day repository workshop; Getting the Most Out of Your Institutional Repository: Gathering Content and Building Use. Although I haven't, as yet, had time to look through it all, it looked to have been an interesting day, discussing many of the issues faced by repository managers and librarians.
Many of the issues raised are nothing new: not enough time, not enough understanding, too many ideas, an ever shifting platform on which to try and build policies, and lack of faculty support. If you've been at one of the UKCORR meetings, you'll be aware that almost everyone is jumping in and out of the same boat. So the irony of asking you to take some additional time out of an already busy day to read a bunch of presentations on attitudes and changes within the world of IRs is not lost on me.
However, if you do get a spare moment, then it is worth dipping in to. John Erickson's presentation on a web 2.0 vision of DSpace should be of particular interest to you all in regards to potential futures, and Dorothea Salo's analysis of the issues faced when setting up a repository, should illustrate many of the ways in which a hosted solution like Open Repository can ease some of the pain. Other presentations cover issues of stewardship, theses and Object Re-Use & Exchange (ORE), which you might consider to be the next generation of OAI-PMH.
So even though it's clear the battle between the technological under-pinnings of repository working and user acceptance is still far from being won, it's good to see that everyone's beginning to move in the right direction.
Posted by Mark Merifield at 12:23 Comments (0)
SHERPA's repository staff and skills document
SHERPA have just released their skills set and description of the common repository roles needed to develop and manage a successful institutional repository.
There's a handy disclaimer just in case anyone starts to get a little depressed as they try to tick off every point on the list:
The document is not designed to describe the skills set required of a particular repository post but rather is a list of the entire set of skills, knowledge and abilities required for the development and management of a successful institutional repository.
Posted by Mark Merifield at 11:22 Comments (0)
Repositories Research Team Newsletter Out Now
For those of you who aren't signed up to the JISC Repositories discussion list the first newsletter from the UKOLN and JISC
CETIS collaborative Repositories Research Team is now available here.
The aim of the newsletter 'is to provide specialised information
to all those interested in Digital Repositories Research'. This issue links to various acronymonious* pieces on Deposit API and SWORD, Repository Ecology, Dublin Core Application Profile for Scholarly Works and forthcoming events. The team also have a wiki.
Other work the Repositories Research Team are involved in is listed as:
- Helping projects find and exploit synergies across the programme and beyond
- Gathering scenarios and use cases from projects
- Liaising with other national and international repositories activities, including liaison with the e-Framework
- Synthesising project and programme outcomes
- Engaging with interoperability standards activity and repository architectures
*I'm told that acronymonious doesn't especially work as clever wordplay. I tried...
Posted by Mark Merifield at 16:28 Comments (0)
UKCoRR - a group for repository managers by repository managers
Last Monday saw the inaugural meeting of the United Kingdom Council of Research Repositories at the University of Nottingham. Having wound our way through the convoluted corridors of the Queens Medical Centre, fifty or so repository managers (and me, although I consider myself to be guilty by association) knuckled down to business: to understand matters affecting repository managers and to look at what UKCoRR (pronounced you-core) should be. With everyone relishing the opportunity to be sat in a room of like-minded individuals, lists of issues and concerns flowed forth. Resources, policies, mandates, advocacy, R.A.E., technology, cultural acceptance, K.P.I.s, good practice, required skill sets, user experience... just a few areas for discussion.
UKCoRR will be more than a regular opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing. It is hoped that the breadth of experience will work its way into an online knowledge bank; a virtual resource of contacts, information and possible solutions to troublesome questions. And whilst initial funding will come from the end of the SHERPA Plus project UKCoRR is intended to remain independent from funding bodies and software providers. As a professional body of repository managers it will represent and promote the needs of the community, working alongside similar groups (Australia and the US so far).
It's clear that although the concept of repositories is becoming more widely accepted, the role of the repository manager is still greatly undervalued: slotted into already busy jobs, barely staffed and dealing with issues that remain half understood whilst technologies and concepts rush past. For an organisation like UKCoRR to step up to the mark to help make sense of this all is certainly a positive step for the community. So whilst we're waiting for Bill (Hubbard) and Gareth (Johnson) to decide upon the next steps you might want to consider signing up for the mailing list or drop them a line for further information.
Posted by Mark Merifield at 16:52 Comments (0)