Readings in IR management
There’s an entire issue of OCLC Systems and Services dedicated to institutional repository startup and management. Most of it is ignorable, bleached white of any actual significance or character, the same old boring “how we done it (good or not)” management doublespeak that irritates more than it enlightens.
I could have written an article like those. I wouldn’t have.
I do recommend the following:
- John Kelly’s article, “Creating an institutional repository at a challenged institution.” IR creation and management isn’t one-size-fits-all. Glory hallelujah, yes. And Louisiana’s inability to implement and properly manage DSpace and EPrints is a cautionary tale for the developers of those fine tools. Same stuff I’ve been harping on here for ages (support, services, easier and more comprehensive management, that last especially important for librarians dependent on unresponsive IT for systems administration), but hey, it’s not me harping for once, and it’s In Print, so it’s automatically more important than I am anyhow, right?
- Green et al.’s article on RepoMMan. This is a beautiful thing; where’s the code, please? What’s beautiful about it is that it actually responds to faculty needs, with the side-benefit of populating the IR. Waltzing in at the very last stage of the process to beg for content is a dud; it’s extra work for extremely nebulous benefit. Giving faculty a secure, sharable storage service (which they absolutely want and need, if folks at MPOW are any indication) and adding an “archive it!” button is a winner.
- Bevan’s article on Cranfield’s IR; skip to the intelligent IR-population strategies about halfway through.
- Royster’s article on UNL; skip to the “Some counter-intuitive lessons” section, which is absolutely without question completely correct, and generalizable to other institutions to boot. (The “personal note” at the end is good reading for repo-rats too; I quite resonated with it.)
The one thing I recommend everybody interested in this space read is the supplementary interview data (PDF) to Margaret Henty’s truly excellent article about getting IRs up and running in Australia. This is the real deal, folks, from people on the ground floor. No doublespeak here, just a double helping of reality check—and plenty of humor to go with it, which I for one appreciate.
If you’re crunched for time, skip the OCLC Systems and Services issue; read Henty’s interviews instead. Trust me on this one.