Search results

The purpose of this paper is to share NCSI's experiences in using GNU EPrints.org software to create and maintain the open‐access institutional repository of IISc, ePrints@IISc.

The GNU EPrints.org is the first generic software for creating Open Access Initiative (OAI)‐compliant repositories, which enables the researchers to self‐archive their research publications thus facilitating open access to their publications. NCSI has been using this software since early 2002. Some amount of customization and value additions to the software are being done periodically by NCSI to meet the local requirements. In this paper, authors are sharing NCSI's experiences in using GNU EPrints.org software.

GNU EPrints.org software is an excellent tool for creating and maintaining OAI‐compliant repositories. The best thing about it is that it can be set up easily even by those who are not too knowledgeable about computers. New features are being introduced on a regular basis. Also, the technical support for the software from the developers and the user community has been very encouraging.

Outlines the work and history of the Indian Institute of Science and the development of the open access movement.

The continuing high costs of scholarly information provision have encouraged the proliferation of eprint servers. We have seen the establishment of the Chemistry Preprint Server, PhilSci Archive and ClinMed, to mention just three examples. Both the well‐established and the evolving eprint repositories offer hope that academic libraries can continue to provide access to required scholarly information at reasonable cost. The paper describes the advantages of eprint servers and possible obstacles to their acceptance.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of a university‐wide deposit mandate on the self‐archiving practices of academics and to show how a mandate can make a positive difference.

The paper explains the genesis of the eprints mandate at QUT and outlines the response of the academics to the endorsement of the policy. The implementation of the mandate is then examined in detail, including discussion and evaluation of specific implementation strategies and practices.

The experience of Queensland University of Technology suggests that a university‐wide eprints mandate definitely increases the rate of self‐archiving. Cultural and organisation change takes time, even with a mandate. Advocacy initiatives and implementation strategies have to be aligned with current skills and needs of the researchers. For a self‐deposit system to be successful, the barriers need to be as low as possible.

Institutional repository administrators should consider creating a scaffolded deposit system that is fast, intuitive and requires only basic technology skills. The efforts of early adopters should be recognised as publicly as possible. Evidence of success is the best form of persuasion.

Many open source software packages are available for organizations and individuals to create digital libraries (DLs). However, a simple to use instrument to evaluate these DL software packages does not exist. The objectives of the present work are to develop a checklist for DL evaluation and use this checklist on four DL software packages.

Features that characterized “good” open source DL software were determined from the literature. First identified were essential categories of features that DL software should possess. These categories were then decomposed into supporting features. From these, a checklist that covered all such features was developed. The checklist was then used to evaluate four popular open source DL software packages (CDSware, EPrints, Fedora, and Greenstone) for the purposes of assessing suitability for use in a DL project to be undertaken by the authors.

A checklist consisting of 12 categories of items was developed. Using this, Greenstone was found to be the best performer, followed by CDSware, Fedora and EPrints. Greenstone was the only software package that consistently fulfilled the majority of the criteria in many of the checklist categories. In contrast, EPrints was the worst performer due to its poor support for certain features deemed important in our checklist, and a total absence of functionality in other categories.

The present work attempts to develop a comprehensive checklist for assessing DLs. Its flexibility allows users to tailor it to accommodate new categories, items and weighting schemes to reflect the needs of different DL implementations.

The paper aims to present a wide range of useful freely available internet resources (e.g. directories, e‐journals, FAQs, mailing lists, and weblogs) that allow the reader to investigate the major aspects of the important open access (OA) movement.

The internet resources included in this webliography were identified during the course of one of the authors writing the Open Access Bibliography: Liberating Scholarly Literature with E‐prints and Open Access Journals. The authors evaluated, selected, categorized, and annotated these resources to construct this webliography, which complements the bibliography.

The most useful resources have been annotated and organized into webliography sections. For example, the “Starting Points”, “Debates”, and “General Information” sections list resources that orient the reader to OA and the issues involved. The different “Directories (and Guides)” sections alert the reader to useful finding aids on relevant subjects.

This webliography provides easy access to the most relevant internet resources for understanding and practicing OA. It affirms the significance of OA in scholarly communication, and it identifies the key parties involved in and/or contributing to the OA movement.

The purpose of this paper is to chart the development and growth of open access and institutional repositories at the University of Glasgow, Scotland from initial work in 2001 to the University's recently launched service, Enlighten. The University of Glasgow is a signatory to the Scottish Open Access Declaration and recently released a statement on Open Access.

The study will focus on the key lessons learned through a twin track approach of advocacy and service development during the DAEDALUS Project (2002‐2005) and the transition of that work to a University service called Enlighten. This service includes a repository for published and peer‐reviewed papers which has now had over 2 million hits and over 270,000 PDF downloads since it was established in February 2004.

The paper reveals the lessons learned by the Library and the project team. It also identifies the range of issues which must be addressed in the successful implementation of a repository and its transition to a production service. These include the development of content policies, copyright clearance and the cultural change necessary to populate a repository service. These challenges have and continue to be addressed by the repository team at the University of Glasgow.

This paper provides details of the lessons learned in the practical experience of setting up an institutional repository and ensuring its transition to a full and supported University service. It will be of particular interest to institutions implementing a repository or running a pilot service.

The second of three features on the Open Archives Initiative data providers, focusing on the areas of science and technology. Outlines the services provided by Bioline International, CERN Document Server, Digital Library for Earth System Education and Organic Eprints.

The purpose of the paper is to report on the impact and cost/benefit of implementing three EPrints digital repositories at the University of Otago, and to encourage others to follow suit.

Three repositories were successfully implemented at the University of Otago using existing commodity hardware and free open source software. The first pilot repository was implemented within ten days, and is now a fully functional system that is being championed for institutional‐wide use by the University Library. The other two repositories emerged from different community needs. One is academic, concerned with collecting and researching indigenous content; the other is designed to preserve and manage collective memory and heritage content for a small rural community.

The paper shows that digital repositories can be established quickly and effectively with surprisingly few resources; readily incorporate any kind of extant digital content, or non‐digital material that is converted to electronic form; meet multifarious needs, from academic institutions seeking to enhance research visibility and impact, to individuals and small communities collecting and preserving their unique memory and heritage records; and establish connectivity with the global community from the moment they go live.

The technology and global support community have matured to a state where a fully‐featured repository can be quickly and easily implemented.

This paper describes the short history, development and impact of the first live repositories of their kind in New Zealand. Their utility and implications for the unique communities that have given rise to them are also explored, by way of encouraging others to take up the digital challenge.