Guest post by Jackie Proven – Increasing repository content at St Andrews using MERIT data.

In 2010 the University of St Andrews implemented a new Research Information System (RIS) called PURE and we began developing strategies for increasing the full text content in our repository. Like most institutions we use various techniques such as presenting at staff events and enabling administrators to make deposits. We knew that getting good quality research outputs from high profile staff would help champion the cause, and so our Library Director suggested looking at the database of RAE 2008 submissions produced by the MERIT project.

The fact that the metadata has been enhanced with publisher details and the main ROMEO conditions means it has proved to be a valuable resource. The database can be easily searched and downloaded for further analysis, and you can then target content in various ways. One possible workflow which I have tried is:

• Search the database and download as Excel file
• Deduplicate using ja_ID  (journal article unique ID which is generated for each author)
• Add columns for author email and deposit date
• Filter by “PVersionPermittedInIr” (Publisher version you can deposit) to see articles that allow Publisher’s pdf
• Filter further by publisher and check ROMEO*
• Email relevant researchers with a bit of blurb about open access and offer to deposit these outputs on their behalf, suggesting at the same time they could add author versions of other publications.
• Deposit the full text (which in our case just means adding the file to the metadata already in PURE, and validate for transfer to the repository).

While it’s possible to find this data in other ways, the MERIT database is a nice tidy solution. Starting with RAE2008 data provides confidence when viewing your repository as a showcase. Working with a batch of outputs from one publisher certainly speeds up the copyright-checking part of the deposit process. (*Given ongoing discussion about the detail of publisher policies including the distinction between websites and repositories, some people may be happy to take the data at face value; some may want to read the ROMEO detail or full policy.)

We have also extended the workflow to look for other content using our RIS metadata. Having this visibility of authors, research outputs and related activity is very helpful to our advocacy efforts. As well as increasing content, it is proving to be a valuable way to start dialogue with our researchers.

For further details contact Jackie Proven, email: jep10@st-andrews.ac.uk

RSP Winter School

Armathwaite Hall

The RSP Winter School will be held from 9th – 11th February 2011 at Armathwaite Hall in Cumbria. This is a three day residential course which aims to provide a varied programme addressing topics related to repository management.

The programme includes: Keynote address from Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor, University of Salford, updates on projects relevant to repositories, in depth workshops on embedding repositories and measuring performance/demonstrating value andpreservation.

Further details and booking are available here.

The case for open access

Repository managers are often looking for succinct summaries of the case for open access that they can use in their institutions. I recently came across this paper from Alma Swan which fits the bill: Open Access impact: A briefing paper for researchers, universities and funders. It addresses the following areas: global access, citation advantage, institutional benefits, knowledge transfer and economic impact.

Another useful paper from Fred Friend has also recently been released: The impact of Open Access outside European universities.

Open Access week: whats happening in the UK

Last week I asked repository managers in the UK to let me know what they are doing this week to promote open access in their institutions as part of SPARC’s International Open Access week. I’ve had a really good response and I’ve listed below a summary  of activities (in no particular order) – if yours isn’t there please add it as a comment. There are so many events and imaginative projects which will really help to raise the profile of open access. Well done UK repository staff! You can also check out the JISC OA week site for managers and researchers which will focus on a different aspect of OA on each day.

DataShare at Edinburgh

Readers may be interested to have a look at the DataShare service at Edinburgh University. This repository allows researchers to “deposit, share, and license their data resources for online discovery and use by others, either openly or in a controlled way if requested”. It arose out of a JISC funded project in the Repositories and Preservation Programme.

I know from conversations that many repository managers are being approached by people in their institutions for help with storing datasets. It will be interesting to see how successful DataShare is in encouraging deposit. The survey on Scottish Witchcraft is intriguing! And for those working in/studying repositories the results of surveys of attitudes to open access and institutional repositories among academic authors, senior managers and technical staff would be useful.

Organic Agriculture in Budapest

I was in Budapest on 16^th and 17^th September, presenting at the final conference of the Organic.Edunet project – International Conference on IT Enhanced Organic, Agro-Ecological and Environmental Education. This was a three year EU funded project to develop a multi-lingual, federated repository of e-learning materials in organic agriculture and agro-ecology. It also developed and implemented scenarios for use of the materials in schools and universities in some of the partner countries.

Presentation on OA and RSP

It was a packed and varied programme with presentations about advances in organic agriculture, educational and e-learning initiatives, repositories and information technologies. It was fascinating to hear about the challenges of providing education in an agricultural context, particularly in the developing world. Also, I learnt some interesting facts such as 20% of Romania’s organic production is honey!

My presentation was part of a session on Open Access Agricultural Repositories and I spoke about Open Access in the United Kingdom and of course about the RSP. I shared the platform with colleagues from the University of Alcala, Spain who outlined their proposals for broadening the scope of open sharing. They referenced the CERIF schema and are developing a model which combines ontologies of research work with an open linked data approach. The third presentation from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens described the VOA3R Project which is developing a platform which aims to re-use existing metadata and semantics technology to retrieve open content and data. The final speaker from FAO described their work in developing metadata standards and controlled vocabularies and their work with repositories such as DSpace. They encourage the use of Linked Data and this theme was further developed in a workshop later in the day.

It was a stimulating (if exhausting) two days and we also had time for social events including a dinner in the very grand Hungarian Academy of Sciences, serenaded by traditional folk musicians and served by staff in white gloves. The view from the window looking out onto the Danube and the Palace Hill on the Buda side was beautiful. And it had the biggest internal doors I’ve ever come across – I had to reach up for the door handles! I really valued the opportunity to spread the word about OA in the UK and to meet up with project colleagues I’d worked with over three years and count as friends as much as co-partners.

RSP Software Survey

In March 2009 RSP ran a successful Software Day at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. To accompany this event we ran a survey of the major repository applications, the results of which can be seen on the RSP site. The survey was very well received and remains one of the most popular pages on the site.

We’re planning another Software Day next year (watch the RSP site for details) but think that the survey itself is overdue for an update given how the repository landscape has developed over the last 18 months.

The survey targets repository software (realistically we’re talking about OAI-PMH compliant applications) capable of storing digital objects, e.g. article full text. If you would like to be included in the survey drop us a line.

Whatever happened to the Names Project?

That’s a question I’ve been asked a few times since I started work at the RSP in March. So I thought I’d find out! The JISC funded project began in July 2007 and is a partnership between the British Library and Mimas. It aims to uniquely identify individuals and institutions involved in research in higher education in the United Kingdom. Phase 1 investigated the potential and requirements for a Name Authority Service and developed a prototype. Phase 2 (March 2009 – February 2011) is expanding the prototype into a pilot service and looking at future options as a service. For a basic summary, there’s a good post on the Mimas blog.

The challenge is aptly illustrated in the following slide:

CC Attribution-ShareAlike, Amanda Hill and Dan Needham, Mimas

Work in the current phase involves testing matching algorithms; reviewing data structure; updating data mappings for revised and new standards; and collaborating with potential data providers and Names users. It is in this latter capacity that the project is asking for help from the repository community in the UK.

They have launched a survey today which aims to find out about the control of names in repositories and ways in which names are matched as well as services which might be useful for repository managers. It’s a good opportunity to influence the shape of a potential Names service in the UK.

To keep up to date with further development see the project website and blog.