Briefing Paper for eResearch & IE Call – 10/2010

Context

As indicated in the Call, JISC has been working towards a vision of a rich scholarly communications and learning environment that is supported by an extensive network of repositories, where content is widely available and can be re-used. JISC believes that there is now a solid foundation for a UK repository infrastructure.  This infrastructure has been developed from JISC programmes/projects and independent work undertaken by institutions and other organisations in the UK and internationally.

Note that the following examples in this briefing paper are just a selection of a wide range of tools applications and services developed by JISC funding and others.

This infrastructure consists of:

1. The building and enhancement of institutional repositories, subject repositories – there are now 178 UK repositories (according to OpenDoar http://www.opendoar.org/) and UK PubMed Central http://ukpmc.ac.uk/ is an example of an open access subject based repository.
2. The development of shared services and projects such as

• SHERPA RoMEO http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/
• OpenDOAR http://www.opendoar.org/
• ROAR http://roar.eprints.org/
• Repository Junction http://edina.ac.uk/projects/oa-rj/index.html
• The Depot http://edina.ac.uk/projects/depot_summary.html
• Jorum http://www.jorum.ac.uk/
• The Repositories UK aggregation http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/resourcediscovery/repuk.aspx
• Institutional Repository Search http://irs.mimas.ac.uk/demonstrator/.

1. The development of software platforms – examples of these are ePrints http://www.eprints.org/, DSpace http://www.dspace.org/, Fedora http://fedora-commons.org/.  Please note that both DSpace and Fedora are now part of the same organisation DuraSpace http://duraspace.org/index.php.
2. Software tools and applications such as MePrints http://allaboutme.eprints.org/ and SNEEP http://sneep.ulcc.ac.uk/.
3. The development of preservation tools such as the Drambora Toolkit http://www.repositoryaudit.eu/.
4. Providing training and skills through JISC projects and in particular the Repositories Support Project, RSP http://www.rsp.ac.uk/.
5. The development of national support and guidance examples of these are RSP, the United Kingdom Council of Research Repositories, UKCoRR http://www.ukcorr.org/, the Digital Curation Centre, DCC http://www.dcc.ac.uk/, UKOLN http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/ and CETIS http://jisc.cetis.ac.uk/.
6. International collaboration and activities examples of this include

• the Confederation of Open Access Repositories http://coar-repositories.org/
• DRIVER http://www.driver-repository.eu/
• OpenAIRE http://www.openaire.eu/
• PEER http://www.peerproject.eu/
• SONEX http://sonexworkgroup.blogspot.com/
• collaborative work via relevant “Knowledge Exchange” Groups http://www.knowledge-exchange.info/.

The following is the list of JISC programmes that have contributed to building of this infrastructure and proposals should build on these programmes and their outputs.

1. Digital Repositories programme 2005-7 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/digitalrepositories2005.aspx. This programme brought together people and practices from across various domains (research, learning, information services, institutional policy, management and administration, records management, and so on) to ensure the maximum degree of coordination in the development of digital repositories, in terms of their technical and social (including business) aspects.
2. Repositories and Preservation Programme http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/reppres.aspx.  This was an investment in Higher Education repository and digital content infrastructure. It funded initiatives to develop the Information Environment supporting digital repositories and preservation, including cross-searching facilities across repositories; funding for institutions to develop a critical mass of content, preservation solutions and advice for the development of repositories.
3. Users Innovation: Personalising Technologies http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/usersandinnovation.aspx.  Based on the needs of real end-users, the programme scoped and developed areas where innovative user technologies and practices could increase efficiency.
4. Digital preservation records management programme http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/preservation/assetmanagement.  This programme was designed to support institutions in long-term digital asset management and preservation.
5. Information Environment Programme 2009-11 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11.aspx  Specifically the following strands of work:
6. Repositories enhancement http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/sue2.aspx
7. Preservation http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/digpres.aspx
8. Deposit http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/jiscdepo.aspx
9. Rapid Innovation http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/jiscri.aspx and the ‘Toolshed’ map summary at http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/449/2/jiscri_map1.html
10. Resource Discovery, especially projects working in the area of automatic metadata generation and text mining http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/resdis.aspx

Specific Examples:

Administrative, ingest and service workflow processes

1.   The University of Glasgow is a good example of an embedded repository within an institution as they have linked the repository with the research system, it feeds information for the staff pages.  They have also done some back-end work to take full advantage of tools and good practice e.g. author disambiguation in order to fully realise the benefits of integration. The disambiguation work at Glasgow has enabled them to build new services such as using the publications in Professorial Professional Development.  An embedded repository is not just one that is technically linked to other institutional systems but that is demonstrably/clearly embedded within the policy and processes of the wider institution.  This example could prove to be an interesting model to follow.

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/sue2/enrich

2.   The Universities of St Andrews and Aberdeen have jointly procured an Atira system (the PURE research information system http://atira.dk/en/pure/) and have done a lot of work in embedding it with their repositories. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/documents/Pure-launch-email.pdf

1. The CRISPool http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/projects/crispool.aspx project used CERIF-XML to integrate heterogeneous research information from several institutions into a single portal. This project forms part of the Research Information Management strand of projects.

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/informationenvironment/researchinfomgt.aspx

Please note, that with regards to integrating research management, administrative and repository systems, bidders should read both the “Repositories: take-up and embedding” and “The Research Information Management” areas of the call document and briefing paper, and then decide which is more appropriate for their proposal to bid against.

Technical processes

1.  SWORD is a lightweight protocol for depositing content from one location to another.  It stands for Simple Web-service Offering Repository Deposit and is a profile of the Atom Publishing Protocol (known as APP or ATOMPUB).  As mentioned above, a number of repositories and services are using the SWORD API as part of their workflow, nationally and internationally.

http://swordapp.org/

2.   The MERLIN project has used the TerMine tool to extract keywords from the full text digital objects harvested by the University of Londons repository aggregator, LASSO. These keywords are presented as part of an interactive cloud display to create an innovative, subject-specific search interface.

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/resdis/merlin.aspx

http://www.nactem.ac.uk/software/termine/

3.  Repository Junction. The aim of this project is to assist open access deposit into, and interoperability between, existing repository services, by developing a deposit broker system. http://edina.ac.uk/projects/oa-rj/index.html

Links with other systems and applications

1.  The Readiness for REF project (R4R) at Kings College London is developing an interoperable system to support REF, based on repository-CRIS integration using CERIF, a model that will be shared with REF stakeholders a group of 100 HEIs.  http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/sue2/r4r

See also note above with respect “Research Information Management”.

2.  Trinity College, Dublin. This is an example of an institution that has developed excellent interoperability between its institutional repository (TARA) and its current research information system. http://www.tcd.ie/Library/riss/tara/

3.   Open University repository[1] can be seen as another exemplar of good practice for embedding a repository within an institution. This example could also prove to be an interesting model to follow.

Improvement to interfaces

1.  KULTUR was a JISC-funded project which created a model of an institutional repository for use in the creative and applied arts. The project investigated a policy and technical framework for creating a multimedia, multifunctional repository, applicable both to specialist institutions and departments across the sector. http://kultur.eprints.org/index.htm

2.  The FAROES project developed a lightweight repository that modern language practitioners can incorporate into their everyday work, with a user interface that follows the best-practice principles of Web 2.0 sites (social, interlinked, evolving and flexible). http://www.faroes.ecs.soton.ac.uk/

1. The winning entry for the Developer Challenge at the Open Repositories Conference 2010 Madrid was from the University of London’s Computer Centre.  This work is developing a proof-of-concept demonstrator of a simple framework for activating links from embedded semantic metadata, using an example based on the Linnean Online Collections repository.

http://vimeo.com/13172548

Please note, that although the examples above refer to ePrints developments we will be seeking projects that work with any of the major repository platforms to improve user interfaces based on good practice from other institutions.

As well as interface improvements, usability improvements are in scope.  However bidders must seek to implement proven good practice from other institutions and not undertake novel or innovative work.

Digital preservation

1.  KeepIt project: Preservation into ePrints platform adapted and applied proven documented approaches and training to develop preservation plans, and developed the KeepIt training resources. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/digpres/keepit.aspx

http://wiki.eprints.org/w/KeepIt_Training_Resources.

1. The Embedding Institutional Data Curation Services in Research (EIDCSR) project is addressing the research data management and curation challenges of three research groups in the University of Oxford. http://eidcsr.oucs.ox.ac.uk/

1. PLANETS project http://www.planets-project.eu/ produced a suite of preservation tools, including a test bed, an interoperability framework and the PLATO planning tool. The tools are being maintained by the Open Planets Foundation http://www.openplanetsfoundation.org/.

1. Biophysical Repositories in the Lab project (BRIL) developed at the Centre for eResearch (CeRch) at Kings College, London is working with researchers to enhance repository workflows. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/digpres/bril.aspx

1. The Preservation Exemplar at Kings (PEKin) project will investigate scope and implement a solution for the management of electronic business records and research materials in an HE institution. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/digpres/pekin

1. Example Preservation Tools include:

• JHOVE provides functions to perform format-specific identification, validation, and characterization of digital objects.

http://hul.harvard.edu/jhove/index.html

• PRONOM is a resource for anyone requiring impartial and definitive information about the file formats, software products and other technical components required to support long-term access to electronic records and other digital objects of cultural, historical or business value.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pronom/

• DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is an automatic file format identification tool

http://sourceforge.net/projects/droid/

• DRAMBORA toolkit is intended to facilitate internal audit by providing repository administrators with a means to assess their capabilities, identify their weaknesses, and recognise their strengths.

http://www.repositoryaudit.eu/

As mentioned above this is just a selection of good practice and if you want to look for more information you can go to JISC Programme webpages, UKCoRR, RSP or the JISC Programme Manager (Balviar Notay b.notay@jisc.ac.uk)

Working with organisations

1.  Successful projects will be expected to work closely with the Repositories Support Project, as they will be involved with much of the dissemination of project outputs. This will be vital as the Call requires best practice to be shared to the broader community.

2.  The United Kingdom Council of Research Repositories (UKCoRR) is a professional organisation for those working in the field of repositories in the UK.  It provides a forum for discussion amongst practitioners.  Successful projects will also be expected to participate in dialogue with this organisation.  Please note that this list is for repository managers and you will need to register to participate in this forum.

1. UKOLN facilitate a Metadata Forum (meetings, blog etc) for interested practitioners.  Successful bids working in the area of metadata would be expected to contribute to this forum.

http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/themetadataforum/

4.  If you would like to seek advice in advance of submitting a proposal for this Call, you are encouraged to contact the RSP and/or the Metadata Forum. support@rsp.ac.uk  Tel: 0845 257 6860

[1] Smith, Colin; Yates, Christopher and Chudasama, Sheila (2010). Open Research Online a self-archiving success story. In: The 5th International Conference on Open Repositories, 6-9 July 2010, Madrid, Spain.  http://oro.open.ac.uk/22321/3/OR2010_handout.pdf