RUBRIC Toolkit: Conclusion
Overview
The intention of the RUBRIC Toolkit is to provide an overview of the major driving forces behind the Institutional Repository (IR) movement and provide new IR managers with information and resources to assist them in the implementation of their own repository.
The Toolkit reflects the collective experiences of the RUBRIC Partners and is practical in nature and Australian in focus. Anecdotal examples have been provided, in addition to evidence-based information from the literature.
Anyone using this information in establishing their own IR will find it useful to refer to a wider range of resources to enhance their knowledge and learn from broader experience. To assist with that process, links to other toolkits and websites have been included below.
Additional Toolkits and Websites for Establishing an IR
A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections
Originally prepared and released in 2001 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In 2003, responsibility for the maintenance and development of the document was transferred to the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). It is useful for project managers wanting to develop best practice as well as for funding organisations wanting to encourage and support best practice.
A Guide to Developing Open Access Through Your Digital Repository
This repository guide was released by the OAK Law Project in April 2007and “examines and explains the copyright issues involved in depositing and accessing material in digital repositories” (OAK Law Project 2007). It is a comprehensive guide focusing on Australian law requirements.
Assessment of RLG Trusted Digital Repository Requirements
This resource catalogues the results compiled by a task force responsible for developing “criteria to identify digital repositories capable of reliably storing, migrating and providing access to digital collections”. Draft released in 2005 by the Archives and Records Administration under the National Science Foundation agreement.
Catalogue of Criteria for Trusted Digital Repositories (Version 1)
This draft document published in June 2006 by the NESTOR (NEtwork of Expertise in long-term STORage) Working Group in Germany addresses concerns by academic organisations. It presents a summary on the implementation of institutional repositories taking into account criteria for best practice.
Creating an Institutional Repository:LEADIRS Workbook
Learning About Digital Institutional Repositories Seminars (LEADIRS) is a program contains expertise garnered from specialists in the United Kingdom and abroad about building institutional repositories. Content has been adapted from the DSpace Federation website and the DSpace project at MIT project.
The JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) FAIR (Focus on Access to Institutional Resources) program results are presented on this site. It provides access to important issues relating to the IR movement in the United Kingdom.
Evaluation Toolkits
The DRAMBORA (Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment) Toolkit and supporting tutorials provides information about repository evaluations. Prepared by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) and Digital Preservation Europe (DPE), it is the result of intensive research and is intended for use as an on-line capability assessment for IRs.
Digital Preservation Management: Implementing Short-term Strategies for Long-term Problems
Hosted by the Cornell University Library, this tutorial has been developed to help plan specific institutional preservation programs. Originally launched in 2003, revisions have been updated as recently as 2005. This tutorial was designed in conjunction with workshops funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Open Archives Initiative Announces Object Reuse and Exchange (ORE)
This project has been initiated to “develop and promote interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content” (ORE website 2007). Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) has set tasks for ORE which will act as a digital foundation for developing educational standards and communication.
This is a three year project due for completion in 2007. Funded under the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP), it is a partner project for digital preservation and research with OCLC and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The paper, Repository Software Evaluation Using the Audit Checklist for Certification of Trusted Digital Repositories, (Kaczmarek et al 2004) reports on results obtained up to the end of 2006 using the following Checklist.
An Audit Checklist for the Certification of Trusted Digital Repositories Published in 2005 by the Research Library Group (RLG) and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), this document is intended for use on a broad scale and follows on from the 2002 production of 'Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes and Responsibilities' (TDR) (Moore and Smith 2005), have researched the Audit Checklist and produced the critique document 'Assessment of RLG Trusted Digital Repository Requirements' (this was funded by the National Archives and Records Administration under the National Science Foundation agreement, USA).
Ten Major Issues in Providing a Repository Service in Australian Universities
This report (Henty 2007) summarizes issues raised in interviews conducted by the APSR Project in 2006 as part of the AIRS (Australian Institutional Repositories Survey). It was not possible to include all of the comments available from those interviewed, so additional comments have been made available through the APSR Project website.
Informative Websites
Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (APSR)
The APSR Project funded by DEST (Department of Education, Science and Training) under the SII (Systemic Infrastructure Initiative), describes its focus as “the critical issues of the access continuity and the sustainability of digital collections” (APSR 2007). The website consists of details of its four interlinked programs and related projects and aims to keep the public informed about repositories and related issues.
Australian Research Repositories Online to the World (ARROW)
The ARROW Project funded by DEST- sponsored as part of the Commonwealth Government's Backing Australia's Ability, tests “software or solutions to support best practice institutional digital repositories” (ARROW 2007). The website has an informative project document repository including information on VITAL and the PILIN Project; a number of events are held in conjunction with APSR.
This solution has many supporters worldwide including Australasia and advertises that the DSpace platform is freely available to “customise and extend it to suit your needs”. (Dspace 2007)
e-Framework for education and research
A collaboration between JISC and DEST, the e-Framework facilitates, “technical interoperability within and across education and research” (JISC 2007). The website encourages participation so that the resulting garnered information can be shared as best practice.
This solution claims to be the “easiest and fastest way to set up repositories of open access items” (EPrints 2007).
Fedora Digital Repository System
Jointly developed by Cornell University and the University of Virginia Library, Fedora is “open source software that gives organisations a flexible service-orientated architecture for managing and delivering their digital content”. (Fedora 2007)
HarvestRoad is stated as “a digital object repository solution”. HarvestRoad, in conjunction with the University of Western Australia, showcased this repository solution at the recent IMS Global Learning Consortium Learning Impact Awards 2007 in Vancouver and won a gold award.
JISC-SURF (links to other resources)
This is an extremely useful site detailing resources of numerous 'Open Access Organisations and Initiatives'.
Meta-Access Management System (MAMS)
The MAMS Project is also funded by DEST under the SII and focuses on “managing authentication, authorisation and identities, together with common services for digital rights, search services and metadata management”. The website has a Knowledge Base section which is a collection of documents relevant to findings from this research.
As part of the SHERPA Project, OpenDOAR is now offering a trial email distribution service for repository administrators, service providers and researchers registered with OpenDOAR around the world.
SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access)
Hosted by the University of Nottingham and funded by six sponsors, the SHERPA site's prime focus provides up to date information relating to scholarly communication and “opening access to research”.
Visionary Technology in Library Solutions (VTLS Inc.)
VTLS is well known in Australia and claims to provide “solutions to a diverse customer base of more than 900 libraries in over 32 countries” (VTLS 2007). VTLS is supported by the ARROW Project in Australia.
IR futures in an Australian context
The RQF exercise is a driving force behind IR development in Australian Higher Education in 2007. There will be rapid growth and development in the last half of 2007 which will continue into 2008 and have a legacy impact on the development of the IR movement in Australia as institutions reflect on the first RQF exercise, workflows and outcomes.
Those who have a keen interest in sharing experiences and working collaboratively during this intense period of development may find the following resources useful:
AuseAccess, 'a wiki devoted to open access repositories in the Australasian region' (AuseAccess website2007).
InstitutionalRepositoryCommunity-ANZ Google Group
References and Further Reading
Refer to the Further Reading section at the end of the Toolkit for bibliographic details of works referenced in this section.
“RUBRIC Toolkit: Conclusion” produced July 2007
