Institutional Repositories:Rebirth of the Phoenix

Dorothea SaloDigital Repository Librarian

WiLSWorld 2009

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/64615651/

The Gartner hype curve

IRs are about here...

Graphic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/3673491202/

How did we get here?

The nest

The book and journal systemis looking a mite rickety

these days!

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsome1/3422512294/

... and the restArticles

Working papersTechnical reports

PodcastsBook

chapters

Websites

Records

Slideshows

DataTheses and

dissertationsDigital audio

Digital video

Book reviews

Conference papers

Images

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaetanlee/421366591/

The idea“Could we use the Internet

to preserve and disseminate journal articles

free of subscription charges?”

“Could the same servicehandle new materials?”

Birds do it...Physicists do it!

So maybe everyone will!

Economists do it! Social scientists do it!

Let’s start a repository!

The metadata’s easy, just Dublin Core!

The software is free!

Faculty have all their work just lying around...

they’ll love having a place to store it!

We’re fixing

scholarly

communication!All we have to do is set it up!

Maybe a little marketing...

Faculty will do the rest!

It’s essential infrastructure!

All we need is a mandate!Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2589612577/

The word “metadata” scares faculty.

The software was useless.

Reality checkIf it’s important, it’s been published. If it’s not, they

don’t know where it is, and don’t care.

Faculty didn’t hear about it,

didn’t understand it,

and didn’t do anything with it.

Publishers had us

outgunned with

our own faculty.

We can’t tell faculty what to do.

Nobody needed these things.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bossco/192347140/

My job timeline

March 2007:I start.

June 2007:Repository budget

cut by... a lot.

October 2007:Working group chartered

on repository future.

“Figure out how we’llfund you.”

Part of WG charge:

My job timeline

March 2007:I start.

June 2007:Repository budget

cut by... a lot.

October 2007:Working group chartered

on repository future.

“Figure out why weshould fund you.”

Part of WG charge:

Something’s broken here.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/banky177/344711691/

Why is the IR phoenix being reborn?

ETDs

• “Electronic Theses and Dissertations”• Lots of institutions have gone or are

going paperless. • Lots more keep an archival paper copy, but

disseminate over the Web.

• Popular programs once they get going!• Common starting place for new IRs

Open access “mandates”Faculty

Funders

Libraries!

(What’s the use? A personal digression)

The publishing landscape

• “Creative destruction”• Library budgets are contracting.• University presses are going under.

• Sometimes combining forces with libraries!

• Will small-society journals follow?• If libraries don’t pick up the slack,

who will?• How do IRs fit in? Good question.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peasap/1752872124/

Dealing with data• Publications are no longer the only

outputs of the research enterprise.• Digital data can be produced, used,

shared, reused, mashed up, and verified via computer.

• But where will we keep it all?• (And then there’s the R-word:

“records”)

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/italintheheart/3460281988/

Diversity of mission“... the basic aims of universities in investing in IRs... seem misleadingly simplistic compared to what IRs are actually attempting to accomplish.”

—Carole Palmer et al., “Identifying Factors of Success in Institutional Repositories”

Okay, fine, Dorothea,but where are we

in all this ferment?

Some indicatorsTotal items March

2007: ~2100

Total items July 2009: 8300+

Some indicators

Total items July 2009: 8300+

Some indicators

Theses and dissertations: ~1060

Peer-reviewed articles: ~1500

Website captures:~75

Journal or newsletter backfiles: ~15 pubs

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/santarosa/2078967751/

UW-River Falls

• Campus MINDS@UW coordinator: Heidi Southworth

• This is not her full-time job!

• 160+ items in 10 subcommunities and ~20 collections

• Great variety of materials...

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/m500/3208597185/

Showcasing faculty

Research, Scholarship &

Creative Achievement,

2008

Join us for music, refreshments, and

exhibits in honor of the intellectual

and creative endeavors of

UWRF faculty and staff.

March 24, 2009

3:00-4:30 p.m.

Library Atrium

A permanent home for research and outreach

UWRF Survey Center

St. Croix Institute

Theses

Showcasing student excellence

Prologue

2008Prologue

Sharing campus history

So what does this mean for MINDS@UW?

My job timeline

March 2007:I start.

June 2007:Repository budgetcut by one-fourth.

October 2007:Working group chartered

on repository future.

“Figure out why weshould fund you.”

Part of WG charge:

Working group

• Michael Doylen, UW-Milwaukee• Carol Hagness, UW-Stout• Mark Rozmarynowski, UW-Baraboo• Heidi Southworth, UW-River Falls • Pat Wilkinson, UW-Oshkosh

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/442106088/

Confusion!UWDCC?

MINDS@UW?What’s the di!erence?

What’s the process

for MINDS@UW?We’re just letting

anyone put stu! in?Is that stu! we want?

Can I use MINDS@UW for...? What kind of help

can I expect?

Why does MINDS@UW look and act di!erently from UWDCC?

UWDCC• Image collections• Faculty work• Books and articles• Theses• Institutional records• Finding aids

MINDS@UW• Image collections• Faculty work• Books and articles• Theses• Institutional records• Websites

Hmmm...Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2607036664/

My job timeline, redux

March 2007:I start.

June 2007:Repository budget

cut by... a lot.

October 2007:Working group chartered

on repository future.

“Figure out why weshould fund you.”

Part of WG charge:

March 2008:WG makes radical

suggestion:Why have two?

July 2008:WG report:

Combine UWDCC andMINDS@UW

As a SUITE of SERVICES and SOLUTIONS

And then...

... the budget crisis hit.Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/werwin15/3554539197/

Okay. So where are we going?

We had this...

Diagram courtesy of Peter Gorman.

We had this...

Diagram courtesy of Peter Gorman.

We are building this.

Diagram courtesy of Peter Gorman.

Well, so?

So the reborn phoenix can be best-of-breed!

ETDs

• UW-La Crosse has pulled the trigger.• UW-Madison is discussing it.• More? Almost certainly.

What do we want?Articles

Working papersTechnical reports

PodcastsBook

chapters

Websites

Records

Slideshows

DataTheses and

dissertationsDigital audio

Digital video

Book reviews

Conference papers

Images

Doesn’t this sound like acollection-development policyto you?

Left photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/2805642326/

So what would you do with...

• a flexible long-term digital storage and description system

• sta!ed with digitization, file-format, metadata, IP, digital preservation, and programming expertise

?

If you’re part of the UW System...

... that’s what you’ll have (we hope)!

Thank you!Questions?

Dorothea Salodsalo@library.wisc.edu

608-262-5493AIM, Y!M: mindsatuw

This presentation is available undera Creative Commons 3.0 AttributionUnited States license.