JISC

Background  

Repositories interoperate with a range of other systems, in particular the web and web-based services, other institutional systems, other repositories and dedicated repository service providers.  Each of these makes certain assumptions about the (meta)data that repositories can exchange and the ways in which that exchange can be made.  Those assumptions are effectively a set of expectations about repositories’ technical interoperability.

Faced with these various expectations, institutional repository managers need to make informed decisions about which to prioritise to meet the aims of their particular repository.  Those aims include:

• promoting the general visibility of the repository’s content
• promoting the visibility of the repository’s content to dedicated academic services
• maximising the quantity of content in the repository
• enabling researchers to collaborate effectively
• supporting the university’s research information management
  

The rationale for this work is to support repository managers by providing them with the information and guidance they need to prioritise and implement particular technical interoperability strategies to meet the aims of their repository. 

Objectives  

The aim of the work is to collect, analyse, review and present information about the options faced by open access research repositories with respect to the systems and services with which they might interoperate. The objectives of the work are to:

• Provide repository managers with information they can use on the costs, benefits, risks and opportunities associated with their repository interoperating with a range of relevant services and systems.
• Provide the information in such a way as to allow repository managers clearly to assess the interoperability options against the aims and mission of their particular repository.
• Provide guidance on how to implement the interoperability covered by (i) and (ii), including technical, legal and other matters as necessary.
• Validate the information and guidance provided with service providers and repository managers, e.g. via the UK Council of Research Repositories.
• Work closely with the Repositories Support Project and UKOLN to plan the presentation, sustainability and ongoing updating of the information and guidance. 

The purpose of the activity is to inform the repository community (specifically those with management responsibility for running repository services) of the opportunities for improving interoperability with the a broad range of relevant services and systems that could increase the value of their offering to their stakeholders and improve the effectiveness of their provision to their institutional business. The objective of this activity is not only to provide an informative and accessible source of information that supports crucial management decisions, but acts as the basis for community-managed and -updated resource that maintains its relevance beyond the end of the project.

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes  

The project will provide an interoperability guidance service in the form of a collection of guidelines, briefing documents and other resources housed in an EPrints-based repository. This repository, RIO (Repository Interoperability Opportunities) will: 

• capture information about a variety of services (basic service metadata e.g. title, URL, description, classification)
• capture objective information about the technical interoperability issues (e.g. metadata schemas, APIs) and legal concerns (e.g. licensing, copyright)
• collect subjective community judgments about the risks and benefits associated with working with each service
• identify exemplars of interoperability
• identify sources of expertise
• provide a mechanism for community input to update the resource