This is a summary of 10 Australian university policy or guidelines statements reviewed by Neil Godfrey, RUBRIC Metadata Specialist to list the range of material considered eligible for deposit into the repository.

Understanding metadata and other requirements for interoperability and preservation factors is easier with a clear idea of what materials we can expect to find in repositories.

The following 10 Australian university policy or guidelines statements have been compared:

• ARROW ((Monash and UNSW)

• Australian National University (collection guide)

• Australian National University (who/what)

• Curtin University (faq)

• Queensland University of Technology (policy)

• University of Melbourne (policy)

• University of Queensland eSpace (about)

• University of Queensland ePrints (faq)

• University of Southern Queensland (faq)

• University of Tasmania (faq)

  A spreadsheet is available tracking data grabbed from sites using copy and paste in order to provide a list of comparisons.

Note that:

• this list includes multiple entries for some institutions if more than one document was used

• some sites contained notes that the information is under review

• the results are only an indicative guide of the policies or guidelines available in mid 2007

Preprints/Postprints & Refereed/Nonrefereed

• “some pre-prints”

• “at the pre-peer review (preprint) stage, with corrigenda added following peer review if necessary"

• Enduring teaching material of a substantial nature, eg unpublished case studies, that form stand-alone pieces of scholarly value;

• and

• Other “grey” literature as determined by the . . . Management Committee.

• any academic output, . . . anything created by a researcher or other academic whether it is primary research, papers or teaching and learning resources

• un-refereed research literature, conference contributions, chapters in proceedings, etc (the accepted draft).

• Two include newspaper or magazine articles (presumably these are not refereed)

• Another has:

  • Technical reports,

  • commissioned reports,

  • and other unrefereed research output.

Drafts

Some accept

• drafts of works

• the accepted draft (also referred to as the postprint)

• draft or final conference papers

Some specifically exclude drafts.

Resource Types Included

Books and book chapters

At least two do not mention books at all but do include book chapters.

Conference material

• all policies reviewed include conference papers.

• some include conference posters.

• some specifically allow for either draft or final papers.

• one includes: Proceedings or papers of conferences held at the university if not otherwise published.

Datasets

• data sets and other ancillary research material

• data files associated the other material in the repository

• just data sets

• small-sized datasets accompanying papers/articles/reports

Journal articles

All include journal articles but one extends this to:

• articles in journals, magazines or newspapers

Another to:

• journal articles, communications and short papers

And one adds:

• newsletters of significant research groups.

Learning objects

A few list:

• learning objects and course-related materials

• teaching and learning resources

Lectures

inaugural lectures and Professorial lectures

Literary and artistic works

unpublished manuscripts of literary work or art work if accompanied by text material

Manuals

manuals or documentation (if displaying scholarly content)

Non text media

• images used for research

• image

• sound

• film

• rich media

• multimedia objects

Patents

These are not widely listed. Only one mentions published patents.

Reports

• reports such as technical reports or project reports

• technical reports

• technical reports, commissioned reports, and other unrefereed research output.

• departmental technical reports

• research papers/reports

• documents associated with the ePrint collection itself, such as policies, procedures, annual reports, etc.

• research reports forming a substantial part of an undergraduate degree (where submission is authorised by the Dean of the Faculty)

Some specifically exclude administration reports about policies etc.

Software

• only one lists software.

• another excludes software programs and websites.

Theses

• PhD theses only

• other student research work approved by the head of school (eg first class honours theses, coursework Masters theses of a high standard, etc.)

• dissertations forming part of a coursework Masters or Doctorate degree (PhD and Research Masters dissertations should be submitted to the Australian Digital Theses archive, not USQ ePrints) (that's probably changing now, however, with the current trend to add ADT theses to repositories)

• theses as prepared for the Australian Digital Theses (ADT) process

• no specific mention of theses at all

• USQ pioneered their Eprints repository with fourth year engineering projects -- these were a special case and are maintained as a separate category within the repository. They have been in high demand both within the university and beyond (their repository status has been well rewarded)

Other

• other “grey” literature as determined by the [repository] Management Committee

• material produced at the University or another acceptable institution (or published or funded by the University) and approved by the University Librarian

• any other form of research output which can be technically loaded to the repository. This would exclude software programs and websites, for example

• other material produced by university staff and approved by the head of school or section

• other student research work approved by the head of school (eg first class honours theses, coursework Masters theses of a high standard, etc)

• any academic output (anything created by a researcher or other academic)

• field notes

Working or Discussion papers

• most listed these in some capacity

• some just have working papers, others both working and discussion papers

• no one has discussion papers who do not also include working papers