JISC

Final Report

Repositories Enhancement Project

EMBRACE will enhance the SHERPA-LEAP hosted repositories by improving the service architecture and by migrating the partner repositories from EPrints 2.3 to EPrints 3.  The Eprints Application Profile will be implemented for the hosted repositories, and advocated to the other LEAP partners.  A tool to embed citations and other information into the text of eprints at deposit will be developed, implemented for the EPrints repositories within the consortium, and made available on an open source basis to the community.  A training programme will be arranged to support these technical measures. 

EMBRACE will also investigate the challenges of embedding repositories of digital assets in institutional strategy.  The espida toolkit will be used as a starting point for a focused investigation encompassing e-prints, e-theses, learning objects and primary data.  The project will deliver a toolkit to support the institutional embedding of digital repositories.

Aims and objectives 

• Upgrade the SHERPA-LEAP hosted repository platform from EPrints 2.3 to EPrints 3.0
• Restructure the architecture of the hosted repository service, in order to make the repositories more robust and more easily configurable to meet local functional requirements
• Implement a citation watermarking facility, in order to optimise the impact of the research papers deposited in the hosted repositories
• Implement the Eprints Application Profile at each SHERPA-LEAP repository
• I nvestigate issues around the strategic commitment of institutions to repository sustainability by carrying out case studies, drawing on the espida toolkit, at SHERPA-LEAP institutions
• Consolidate the results of the case studies into a toolkit adapted specifically to support the embedding of IRs in institutional policies and strategies

Project methodology

EMBRACE falls broadly into two parts, enhancement and strategy.  On the enhancement side, a Technical Officer based at UCL will work on the reconfiguration and upgrade of the hostedrepository service.  The Eprints Application Profile will be implemented by the Technical Officer in conjunction with the SHERPA-LEAP Project Officer, who will also lead on a trainingprogramme for technical and adminstrative staff within the consortium, which will underpin all therepository enhancement work of the project.  The tool to support accurate citation of eprints will be developed by the EPrints team at Southampton, working in conjunction with the SHERPA-LEAPProject Officer, and released on an open source basis.  The strategic work of the project will be outsourced to consultants (to be recruited), working under the close direction of the EMBRACE Steering Group.

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

• Upgrade of SHERPA-LEAP repositories to EPrints 3.0, together with more robust architecture for the SHERPA-LEAP hosted repository service
• Implementation of and advocacy for the Eprints Application Profile
• Creation of a generic citation support tool for IRs, with an EPrints implementation
• Testing, evaluation and adaptation of the espida toolkit
• Report on repository strategy and sustainability, covering a number of types of digital asset, at a minimum of 3 SHERPA-LEAP institutions
• Consolidated generic, reusable and adaptable toolkit to support the embedding of repositories of digital assets in institutional strategy and policy  

Lead institution

• UCL  (University College London)

Project partners

• SHERPA-LEAP Consortium