BioMed Central launches repository service for institutions

Citation

(2005), "BioMed Central launches repository service for institutions", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 33 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilds.2005.12233aab.004

BioMed Central launches repository service for institutions

In launching this initiative BioMed Central is taking a big step towards making Open Access a significant player on the library scene. Now all that is needed is a coordinating body to provide seamless access to all the repositories…BioMed Central, the Open Access Publisher, today launched a repository service for universities and research institutions. Open Repository has been conceived in direct response to demand in the market.

The UK House of Commons Science & Technology Committee report “Scientific Publications: Free for all?” and The US House Appropriations Committee draft report, concerning NIH-funded research, are two of the strongest calls for mandating Open Access to the published results of publicly funded research. Around the world there are increasing moves towards Open Access by government and funding bodies, meaning that institutional repositories are fast becoming a necessity.

Open repository offers professional help to institutions to quickly and easily build, launch, maintain, and populate their institutional repositories. The service has been designed to be flexible and cost-effective. The open repository service makes it possible for institutions that could not otherwise afford to, or lack the infrastructure or technical capacity in-house, to set up repositories.

Open repository offers a number of different levels of service, to fit with a university or institution’s requirements. For a one-off set-up fee, BioMed Central will build the repository with open source software D-Space, with complete customization to the customer’s requirements. Repositories built under the scheme will be able to accept a wide variety of publication types. It is then up to the institution whether they wish BioMed Central to host and run the repository or to transfer operation and maintenance to themselves. The institution remains the owner of the repository.

For an annual fee, BioMed Central offers to maintain the repository and guarantee ongoing customer support. BioMed Central’s open repository service will include converting articles to PDF and XML. Advanced search functionality will be a part of the service, as will links to and from databases, for example PubMed, and via CrossRef to the body of scientific literature.

Source: BioMed Central press release 13 September 2004.