Solutions in Search of Problems? The Challenges and Opportunities of Institutional Repositories

• Published in: The Journal of academic librarianship Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 65 - 67
• Main Author: Little, Geoffrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ann Arbor Elsevier Inc 01-01-2012; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Institutional repositories; Librarians; Open access; Open access publishing; Professional responsibilities; Technology adoption
• ISSN: 0099-1333; 1879-1999
• DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2011.11.010

Little talks about the challenges and opportunities of institutional repositories. New institutional repositories are being launched every month and the number of open access (OA) journals is growing at the same time that more and more commercial publishers are undertaking OA initiatives of one kind or another. In the meantime, librarians should be excited to start, manage, and promote their institution's institutional repositories. It speaks to librarians' proven skills in organizing, disseminating, and preserving information and in forging partnerships across campus and beyond. Librarians often speak and think about challenges and opportunities as though they were unconnected and detached from each other. In the case of institutional repositories, Little thinks they are being presented with both at the same time. That is an exciting proposition, he stresses.