Improved Access to Research Outputs

The access via the internet to research outputs such as scientific publications and student theses is getting better and easier due to improved retrieval via digital repositories, especially designed databases. The number of universities and research institutions that use repositories to disperse their research outputs is growing steadily. By 2006, more than 230 European institutions owned a repository, as is shown in the study 'The European Repository Landscape', by Maurits van der Graaf and Kwame van Eijndhoven.

The EC-funded DRIVER project is leading the way as the largest initiative of its kind in helping to enhance repository development worldwide. Its main objective is to build a virtual, European scale network of existing institutional repositories using technology that will manage the physically distributed repositories as one large scale virtual content source. As part of the DRIVER project, three strategic and coordinated studies have been conducted on digital repositories and related services. They are aimed at repository managers, content providers, research institutions and decision makers - all key stakeholders who are taking an active part in the creation of the digital repository infrastructure for e-research and e-learning. SURffoundation is the Dutch partner in the DRIVER project, and responsible for the publication of the studies. The studies are published on the 16th of January 2008 together with Amsterdam University Press.

The 'European Repository Landscape' is a study on different aspects of the European repository infrastructure. The study presents a complete inventory of the state of digital repositories in the 27 countries of the European Union and provides a basis to contemplate the next steps in driving forward an interoperable infrastructure at a European level.

A key question in the development of institutional repositories is how to make a digital repository and related services work for an institution. This question is addressed in the study 'A DRIVER's Guide to Repositories', edited by Kasja Weenink (SURFfoundation), Leo Waaijers (SURFfoundation) and Karen van Godtsenhoven (UGent-DRIVER). It focuses on five issues which are essential to the establishment, development or sustainability of a digital repository. These are covered by the contribution of Alma Swan (Key Perspectives Ltd.) who provides guidelines that are significant to business modeling for digital repositories and related services; Wilma Mossink (SURF) who addresses Intellectual Property Rights issues; Vanessa Proudman (Tilburg University) who offers insight into the populating of repositories; and René van Horik (DANS, Data archiving networked systems) and Barbara Sierman (KB, National Library of the Netherlands) who address issues concerning data curation and long term preservation. Good practices and lessons learned will assist stakeholders in both the day-to-day issues and long-term challenges. This edited study focuses on inter- and transnational approaches which go beyond local interests.

The 'Investigative Study of Standards for Digital Repositories and Related Services' by Muriel Foulonneau and Francis André (CNRS-ISTI) reviews the current standards, protocols and applications in the domain of digital repositories. The authors also explore possible future issues - that is to say, which steps need to be taken now in order to comply with future demands.

For more information and free accessible downloads of the studies, please see:
www.driver-community.eu or www.driver-support.eu/en/studies.html

Hard copies can be obtained via Amsterdam University Press, www.aup.nl