2 Contents of the Library Repository
What are the Contents of a Library IR?
Fundamentally, libraries with OA IRs provide permanent access to digital objects and allow for increased accessibility through open access initiatives, such as OAIster, [1] an Open Archives Initiative (OAI) compliant metadata harvester that can search any digital repository, or through Google Scholar,[2] which includes IR content in its searches.
Therefore, the digital content in library IRs may take a number of different forms, including text, data, and rich media (such as video). This content is usually fully available, meaning that the content is accessible in its entirety rather than in a partial form (in the case of a journal article, for example, this would mean the full text is available and not just the abstract). Additionally, the contents are freely available, meaning there are no costs charged (paywall free) at the point of access (although costs are, of course, incurred in generating and disseminating the content) (Pinfield et al., 2014). The content is immediately available, meaning there are no formal delays or embargoes on its availability. It is also permanently available, meaning it is available on an ongoing basis so that it can be accessed and cited (usually involving a commitment to maintaining persistent access paths to as well as preservation of the content itself) (Pinfield et al., 2014). Thus, the content may be viewed and also reused with minimal restrictions. The ability to view the content means it can be read (normally by humans), and the ability to reuse the content means it can be copied, mined, processed, analyzed, indexed, and redistributed (often by machines) with minimal rights restrictions. (Suber, 2012; Suber, 2016).
OpenDOAR Contents of IRs:
The most common content types for library repositories listed in OpenDOAR, the global Directory of Online Repositories, are:
- Why is it important for content to be fully available, and accessible in its entirety rather than in a partial form?
- What other content might make sense for libraries to post in their IR?
References
OpenDOAR Statistics (2022). Retrieved February 15, 2022 from https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/view/repository_visualisations/1.html,
Pinfield, S., Salter, J., Bath, P. A., Hubbard, B., Millington, P., Anders, J. H., & Hussain, A. (2014). Open‐access repositories worldwide, 2005–2012: Past growth, current characteristics, and future possibilities. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(12), 2404-2421.
Suber, P. (2016). Knowledge Unbound: Selected Writings on Open Access, 2002–2011. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/26045/1004040.pdf?sequence=1
Suber, P. (2012). Open access overview. Retrieved from http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4729737