Re: Developing an agenda for institutional e-print archives

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_cogprints.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 14:31:42 +0100

On Thu, 18 Apr 2002, Stephen Pinfield wrote:

> http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/eprint-archives/
> Setting up an institutional e-print archive

Stephen Pinfield's University Eprint Archive at Nottingham is splendid
and its design is worthy of emulation by other universities:
http://www-db.library.nottingham.ac.uk/ep1/information.html

But now it must move to the next step, which is to fill those
archives!

Here are some suggestions from the self-archiving FAQ:

How can an institution facilitate the filling of its Eprint Archives?
http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/#institution-facilitate-filling

    (1) Install OAI-compliant Eprint Archives.

    (2) Adopt a university-wide policy that all faculty maintain and
    update a standardised online curriculum vitae (CV) for annual
    review.

    (3) Mandate that the full digital text of all refereed publications
    should be deposited in the University Eprint Archives and linked to
    their entry in the author's online CV. (Make it clear to all
    faculty how self-archiving is in the interest of their own research
    and standing, maximizing the visibility, accessibility and impact
    of their work.)

    (4) Offer trained digital librarian help in showing faculty how to
    self-archive their papers in the university Eprint Archive (it is
    very easy).

    (5) Offer trained digital librarian help in doing "proxy"
    self-archiving, on behalf of any authors who feel that they are
    personally unable (too busy or technically incapable) to
    self-archive for themselves. They need only supply their digital
    full-texts in word-processor form: the digital archiving assistants
    can do the rest (usually only a few dozen keystrokes per paper).

    (A policy of mandated self-archiving for all refereed research,
    together with a trained proxy self-archiving service, to ensure
    that lack of time or skill do not become grounds for
    non-compliance, are the most important ingredients in a successful
    self-archiving program. The proxy self-archiving will only be
    needed to set the first wave of self-archiving reliably in motion.
    The rewards of self-archiving -- in terms of visibility,
    accessibility and impact -- will maintain the momentum once the
    archive has reached critical mass. And even students can do for
    faculty the few keystrokes needed for each new paper thereafter.)

    (6) Digital librarians, collaborating with web system staff, should
    be involved in ensuring the proper maintenance, backup, mirroring,
    upgrading, and migration that ensures the perpetual preservation of
    the university Eprint Archives. Mirroring and migration should be
    handled in collaboration with counterparts at all other
    institutions supporting OAI-compliant Eprint Archives.

What can libraries do to facilitate self-archiving?
http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/#libraries-do

    Digital librarians are the natural candidates for maintaining the
    Eprint Archives, their institution's outgoing collection of
    peer-reviewed research output.

    (1) Offer trained digital librarian help in showing faculty how to
    self-archive their papers in the university Eprint Archive (it is
    very easy).

    (2) Offer trained digital librarian help in doing "proxy"
    self-archiving, on behalf of any authors who feel that they are
    personally unable (too busy or technically incapable) to
    self-archive for themselves. Authors need only supply their digital
    full-texts in word-processor form: the digital archiving assistants
    can do the rest (usually only a few dozen key/mouse-strokes per
    paper).

    (The proxy self-archiving will only be needed to set the first wave
    of self-archiving reliably in motion. The rewards of self-archiving
    -- in terms of visibility, accessibility and impact -- will
    maintain the momentum once the archive has reached critical mass.
    And even students can do for faculty the few keystrokes needed for
    each new paper thereafter.)

    (3) Digital librarians, collaborating with web system staff, should
    be involved in ensuring the proper maintenance, backup, mirroring,
    upgrading, and migration that ensures the perpetual preservation of
    the university Eprint Archives. Mirroring and migration should be
    handled in collaboration with counterparts at all other
    institutions supporting OAI-compliant Eprint Archives.

What can researcher/authors do to facilitate self-archiving?
http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/#researcher/authors-do

    Make sure that your university or research institution has
    installed OAI-compliantEprint Archives.

    Self-archive your pre-peer-review preprints in your institutional
    (or central) Eprint Archives.

    Self-archive your post-peer-review postprints (or corrigenda file)
    in your institutional (or central) Eprint Archives.
Received on Wed Apr 24 2002 - 14:33:02 BST

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