JISC

Project Description

This project will focus on evaluating five different types of public repositories in the UK; i.e. repositories that are intended for use by people outside a hosting institution. Individual mission concerns for the selected repositories will be assessed through an analysis of their user needs, including a comparative evaluation of each type to determine how individual findings can be used to inform the practice of the others.  Our approach will be to carry out this evaluation using a complementary set of qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The qualitative approach will be to interview stakeholders and users associated with each repository, and the quantitative approach will involve using a newly developed “Web intelligence” technique, designed to collect and analyse Web link statistics.

We will contribute to the Digital Repositories Programme specifically by delivering a report for each type of public repository and providing a Web intelligence service to the repository stakeholders, which will demonstrate how inlinks to and co-links with their Website can be used to monitor and/or assess their current Web network positioning.  Insight of this nature should help them to better understand and address community needs, and work towards building stronger links (i.e., Web links and real-world links) between themselves and other relevant organisations or activities, at both a national and international level.