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Analysis and news


Are repositories the key to institutional resilience? The repository has become an increasingly important and integral part of an institution’s infrastructure, writes Harriet Clark


It’s fair to say that the purpose of a repository has fundamentally evolved to become a far more encompassing and essential tool for institutions across the world since Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic. The repository (sometimes referred


to as an institutional repository) has expanded in its use and purpose, with many more stakeholders realising the additional value it can reward them with, notably by using it for OA to share knowledge and materials, and increase collaboration. For this article, when I think of an institutional repository, I’m referring to a central hub which houses digital (or digitised) assets and research data that are either the intellectual output of the institution, or are owned by them. For example, the Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is held by the Huntington Library, along with a vast Hispanic collection of artefacts.


The primary use for an institute to own


a repository is to enable researchers to archive their research output and thus, improve the visibility, usage and impact of its results and findings. Additional benefits include:


• Capturing and managing intellectual assets;


• Ensuring the long-term security and accessibility of valuable digital assets;


• Enabling correct access for students, teachers and other stakeholders to search and use the assets held;


• Keeping history and cultures alive; and • Regulatory compliance where applicable.


24 Research Information August/September 2021


including how AI and data were used to tackle the pandemic. Of course, the findings are still ongoing but so far, it discovered that in the face of a public health crisis, community data sharing increased, and data sharing across borders facilitated the discovery of vaccines and treatments. Traditional institutional publishing methods, approaches and processes are now not – or were never – robust enough to ensure seamless accessibility to, and collaboration of, digital assets and data. This is not to say that the original use or reliance on a repository was


What changes have taken place? Over the last 18 months, the repository has become an increasingly important and integral part of an institution’s infrastructure. Institutions, organisations and individuals have had to digitally keep pace to simply remain operable, causing a significant reliance on technology that may not have existed pre-Covid. The pandemic has certainly caused the education industry to take note of the fundamental requirement of digitisation, and the transformation which comes with it. One such example is the Covid-19 repository that was established to record and monitor responses to the pandemic,


‘People have had to almost exclusively turn to the internet to fill research and knowledge gaps’


wrong – not in the slightest. It’s simply the case that its purpose and use have expanded. With remote working, learning and teaching becoming the norm across the globe, users have had to be able to search, access and use digital content instantaneously to be able to continue with their tasks. This also required many stakeholders to digitise their operations and enable correct user access. The repository has evolved from being predominantly used as a storage solution for research data, to become a hub for learning and collaboration. According to Universities UK Open Access (OA) Coordination Group, institutional repositories are ‘now meeting a broad national need in support of OA, and in so doing form an essential component of national research infrastructure.’


A changed outlook Potentially one of the greatest changes witnessed is the surge and acceptance of open access to research data, study materials, and even artefacts and special collections. Without the ability to travel to universities, research centres, libraries or anywhere, people have had to almost exclusively turn to the internet to fill research and knowledge gaps. Open access to materials has become a necessity to keep educational research and learning moving forward. Additionally, many teams, projects and


facilities have realised other benefits of OA, namely improved collaboration and reduced time taken for research projects to be approved and marketed, as access to essential information is available in a digital instant. I think we could be as bold to say that this has been an industry innovation.


@researchinfo | www.researchinformation.info


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