UCL LIBRARY SERVICES LMN Case Study the UCL

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES LMN Case Study: the UCL digital repository and London collaboration Martin Moyle Digital Curation Manager, UCL Library Services m. moyle@ucl. ac. uk LMN Event, Birkbeck, 27 November 2007

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Outline q The UCL Repository q What are we collecting? q Some significant policy decisions q Next steps q London collaboration q The SHERPA-LEAP Project q. . . and in future?

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES The UCL Repository q Founded April 2004 q To collect "eprints" - copies of research papers q journal articles, discussion papers, project reports, conference papers, recordings. . . any UCL-authored research output q and to make them openly and freely available on the Web q Open source software - GNU EPrints q Bottom-up development: lots of trial and error q UCL Eprints: http: //eprints. ucl. ac. uk

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Content and usage. . . 1. Material acquired to date: q Articles (2866) q Book chapters & proceedings sections (472) q Conference papers (262) q Working papers (239) q Books (67) q Research reports (54) q Theses (53) q Discussion papers (47) q Technical reports (43) q Other monographs (20) q Lectures (7) q Patents (6) q Literature reviews (3) q Music scores (3) 2. Most downloaded, October 07

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES If you build it, they will come. . . ? q Began with "self-archiving" by authors q 44 papers contributed in first 9 months q roughly 0. 6% of eligible UCL research q copyright and quality issues time-consuming for Library q Moved to a mediated service, early 2005 q Resource-intensive; doesn't scale; but essential q Hope to reintroduce self-deposit in future q if and when the repository is securely embedded in research workflows - and/or we have an institutional mandate

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Open Access? q Free, immediate, permanent online access to the full text of research articles for anyone, webwide (Stevan Harnad) q Started out fully committed to open access. Issues: q Copyright - not every version of published material can legally be reposited. Institutional liability means take this seriously. q Bad PR to reject well-intentioned deposits because of red tape q Authors keen on completeness of publication record, despite unavailability of e-versions of many outputs q Began to take metadata-only records early 2005 q Again, resource-intensive - eg backlists - but essential to researchers' acceptance of repository

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Institutional join-up q UCL Research Publications database q populated by DAs and other departmental staff q not managed by Library q is used to feed RAE return q Implemented daily transfer of new/updated records from UCL Eprints to the central publications database q Benefits: q UCL Eprints now a one-stop shop for depositors q Incremental update - reduced need for annual frenzy in departments q Good for RAE: qlibrary-quality records are getting into the central database qincreased research impact for authors who deposit in Eprints q Will be uploading final RAE return into Eprints early 2008

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Next steps at UCL q Can we get a mandate? E-thesis deposit mandated already. . . q Adding value / exploiting repository content q eg overlay journals - the RIOJA project; course readings and VLE q Beyond eprints q Especially primary data, learning materials q Seeking to carry out a UCL-wide audit of digital assets q Towards "Digital Curation" - high-level UCL Working Group set up q Library setting example with own content (images, e-exam papers, etc) q http: //digital-collections. lib. ucl. ac. uk q Institutional strategy q Digital assets not always recognised in Information/IT Strategies q JISC funding for generic work on repository sustainability: EMBRACE

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Collaboration - SHERPA-LEAP q LEAP = London Eprints Access Project q Founded in 2004. Basic initial aims: q create eprints repositories in London q populate them q Funded by the VC of the University of London q Any Uo. L institution with an IR may join the consortium q UCL runs a hosted repository service q Currently 13 partners (9 with centrally-hosted repositories) q http: //www. sherpa-leap. ac. uk q Funding ends July 2008

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES SHERPA-LEAP: some outputs q Hosted repository service q Regional workshop(s) for new or putative repository adminstrators q Regional training events q Two OA Conferences for London academics q Experience-sharing and mutual support network q Uo. L repository cross-searching service in development for beta launch February 2008 q showcase for London research q stimulus for academic co-operation q shop window for industrial/commercial collaboration

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES SHERPA-LEAP membership: some benefits q Hosted repository service means: q Hardware and maintenance costs covered q Quick set-up possible, so pilot work is more achievable q Shared software expertise, easy propagation of new developments q Institutions able to investigate and refine requirements for locallyhoused repository q Shared publicity/marketing materials and strategies q Participation in new development projects - size and diversity of Consortium makes it an interesting testbed q General experience-sharing and mutual support: we were all new to this. . .

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Future London cooperation? q Primary data? q Scalable storage q Curatorial expertise q Services, supported by appropriate licensing expertise q A SHERPA-LEAP-like model? q Digital preservation? q "Trusted third party" services? q Some experimentation in UK, eg SHERPA DP project q Under way in Netherlands - Royal Library (KB) and DARENet repository network

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Future London cooperation? contd. . . q SHERPA-LEAP network will continue post-project q Terms of reference currently under review q Expansion of membership from Uo. L to London region? q Regional SIGs? eg: qmetadata qcopyright qpreservation qdifferent types of repository content. . . ?

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Thank you q Email m. moyle@ucl. ac. uk q UCL Repositories q http: //eprints. ucl. ac. uk q http: //digital-collections. lib. ucl. ac. uk q SHERPA-LEAP q http: //www. sherpa-leap. ac. uk