Supporting and Enhancing Scholarship in the Digital Age: The Role of Open-Access Institutional Repositories

Abstract

Scholarly communication and publishing are increasingly taking place in the electronic environment. With a growing proportion of the scholarly record now existing only in digital format, serious and pressing issues regarding access and preservation are being raised that are central to future scholarship. At the same time, the desire of scholars to maximize readership of their research and to take control of the scholarly communication process back from the restrictive domain of commercial publishing has prompted the proliferation of access options and experimental models of publishing. This paper examines the emerging trend of university-based institutional repositories (IRs) designed to capture the scholarly output of an institution and to maximize the research impact of this output. The relationship of this trend to the open access movement is discussed and challenges and opportunities for using IRs to promote new modes of scholarship are provided.Résumé : La communication et l'édition savantes ont de plus en plus lieu dans un milieu électronique. En effet, une proportion croissante de la recherche existe seulement sous forme numérique. Cette situation soulève des questions sérieuses et pressantes sur l'accès et la préservation qui sont vitales pour l'érudition future. En même temps, les désirs de chercheurs de maximiser leur lectorat et de retirer la communication savante de l'emprise des éditeurs commerciaux ont mené à une prolifération d'options pour l'accès et de modèles d'édition expérimentaux. Cet article examine la tendance émergeante vers des entrepôts institutionnels basés dans des universités conçus de manière à préserver la production savante d'une institution et à maximiser son impact sur la recherche. Cet article discute du rapport de cette tendance au mouvement favorisant un accès libre et il propose des défis et des occasions dans l'utilisation d'entrepôts institutionnels pour promouvoir de nouvelles approches érudites.

Challenges of scholarly publications on the Web to the evaluation of science—A comparison of author visibility on the Web and in print journals

“…In this model, the first tier is predicted to be a "free space" which represents the scholarly enterprise in "real time" and is most likely to feature free and timely Web-based publications, while the second tier is thought to be the world of more formal publications that is most likely to continue to be dominated by journals (van Raan, 2001, p. 61). As suggested by the present study and by other studies (Chan, 2004;Crow, 2002;Zhao, 2004), the first tier would primarily serve as an information distribution medium that improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the informal communication, on which scholars have relied heavily to obtain the information they need for their research, while the second tier would primarily serve as an archive and evaluation rather than information distribution device. The faster and wider distribution of information on the Web makes the Web a perfect medium for the initial publication of new research results in the first tier, while the journal has served well as an archive and evaluation device for a long time, which makes it natural to continue its role in the second tier.…”

Researchers' perspectives on open access scholarly communication in Tanzanian public universities

“…Furthermore, their budget cycles are usually shorter than the commitment to three to five year deals. It is evident that most of the 'big deals' that had been signed in developing countries had only been possible when there were externally supported programmes (Chan 2004;Chege 2006;Kirsop and Chan 2005). Such deals are also deemed to be unsustainable once the external donation ends.…”

Research Productivity-Visibility-Accessibility and Scholarly Communication in Southern African Universities

“…If the technological means for access exists (both on the publisher's side and on the user's side) and the copyright constraints to access are addressed, then most, but not all, the requirements for access are met. This is generally applicable in regions of high research productivity (Chan, 2004). It is argued here, however, that, in a region of low research productivity, low visibility of Southern African research in the vast pool of global literature on any particular subject may indeed negatively influence its accessibility.…”

“…Greater accessibility of research, through evaluating analytical perspectives which offer fresh or distinctive views, can fuel the utilisation of knowledge for social and economic development and offer return on investment in scholarly research. The relationship between visibility and accessibility is an important theme in discussions on scholarly communication (Chan, 2004;Halliday, 2001;Kling & Covi, 1995). Chan (2004: 279) argues that:…”