Repositories and Preservation Programme
The programme is a £14m investment in Higher Education repository and digital content infrastructure. It will fund 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.
Vision To establish a network of digital resources and services to significantly improve content use and curation
The programme builds on the existing JISC programmes, in particular the Digital Repository programme and the Supporting Digital Preservation and Asset Management in Institutions
Programme overview
Activities
Digital repositories projects to further develop repositories for universities and colleges
Digital preservation taking forward the development of a distributed environment for digital preservation, in which services, roles and responsibilities are scoped and defined
Discovery to delivery a service for searching across UK repositories and the agreement of standards for searching and semantic interoperability
Tools and innovation development and pilot innovative approaches to repository use and digital preservation through the development of new software and tools
Shared infrastructure in support of both national and international developments, development of shared infrastructure services such as user profiling services, digital rights management, registries, identifier services, terminology and preservation services
Outcomes
- Institutional and repository services will be further developed and populated
- A richer search infrastructure for UK digital repositories
- Further refinement of the application of standards and specifications for digital repositories and preservation
- New software and tools for both digital repository use and digital preservation
- Increased understanding of how repositories can be used and embedded to support education and research
- Pilot implementations and models for resource discovery and preservation shared infrastructure
- Clarification of roles and responsibilities across digital preservation services
Benefits
The programme will result in a range of benefits for universities and colleges, including better access to and management of their intellectual outputs, increased capability within the sector to manage these assets for education and research, and an infrastructure that will support the sector into the future.
Programme structure
Background
Definitions of repositories and preservation guiding the programme, as well as programmes and projects that have helped shape the programme
Key documents - studies and reports have been produced to guide the work of this programme
International context JISC works with a number of other national initiatives
Repositories in the Information Environment
The development and implementation of digital repositories and their supporting infrastructure is important to the delivery of the JISC strategy. JISC aims to develop:
- a common information and communications environment, including addressing intellectual property rights, interoperability standards, digital preservation and appropriate technology
- the effectiveness of scholarly communication in support of research, learning and teaching, especially through sustainable content management
Digital repositories are one aspect of the information and communications environment that can help achieve these aims. They can help institutions to develop coherent and coordinated approaches to the capture, identification, storage, preservation and retrieval of their intellectual assets. These intellectual assets go beyond normal publishing regimes, and may include audiovisual objects, datasets, presentations, learning materials and research works
A managed approach to these assets enhances opportunities for efficient use of existing research, for improved learning experiences and encourages collaboration within and between different disciplines and groups. It also will act as a catalyst to research by improving access to content, better management of content, and by enabling new kinds of research such as that in e-science.
Find out more
Contact us
Email the Repositories and Preservation programme team at: rpteam@jisc.ac.uk or for specific enquiries:
- Programme direction and overall management
Rachel Bruce, Programme Director, Information Environment
- Digital Repositories Programme Phase One, Search Infrastructure and Discovery to Delivery, and Interim Repository
Neil Jacobs, Programme Manager
- Digital Preservation and Records Management
Neil Grindley, Programme Manager
- Repositories Support Project, Matched Funding, and Repositories in an Institutional Context
Amber Thomas, Programme Manager
- Tools and Innovations and Shared Infrastructure
Tom Franklin, Temporary Programme Manager
- National Search Infrastructure and Discovery to Delivery
Balviar Notay, Programme Manager