Implementation of a new library/university service: Oregon State University’s Institutional Repository

Abstract

In September 2003, Karyle Butcher, University Librarian, appointed a task force to explore institutional repositories as one mechanism to address the challenge of collecting, maintaining and serving the digital output of Oregon State University (OSU). Institutional repositories feature prominently in library discussion these days as we grapple with economic pressures, ever-increasing digital output, and evolving user expectations. While early in the development of repositories, we see an institutional repository (IR) as one tool in the OSU Libraries’ suite of digital library tools that will help us solve access and storage issues. We anticipate that the OSU’s IR will provide a reliable means for faculty members to store and access their research and teaching output, for students to do the same with their research, and for the institution to maintain that part of its historical record in digital form. This report examines the needs of OSU, issues with collecting and storing digital items, and then make recommendations for a pilot project.