(My ISP connection dropped on my first attempt to post this, so here is a much briefer summary.)
Useful report from Mark Ware for the Publisher and Library/Learning Solutions (PALS) group in the U.K. which surveys the current field of ‘institutional repositories.’ It’s nice to see that Ware doesn’t hedge at all in defining his target:
“An institutional repository (IR) is defined to be a web-based database (repository) of scholarly material which is institutionally defined (as opposed to a subject-based repository); cumulative and perpetual (a collection of record); open and interoperable (e.g. using OAI-compliant software); and thus collects, stores and disseminates (is part of the process of scholarly communication). In addition, most would include long-term preservation of digital materials as a key function of IRs.”
The report gives good summaries of the available software, some numbers to fill out the picture of the current state of adoption, and section 4 has a good overview of the issues facing institutional repository projects. – SWL
Repositories
Pathfinder Research on Web-based Repositories – FINAL REPORT .
Meta-Data Yeti-Data
My position have been made too many times regarding the apparent over-obsession with learning object meta-data, 4 words guaranteed used together will put most ordinary humans into a mild coma. I’ve given thought to meta-data and our Maricopa Learning e…