Content in Institutional Repositories

Caroline Pallone

CR

Genoni, P. (2004). Content in institutional repositories: A collection management issue. Library Management, 25(6), 300-306. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1108/01435120410547968 

Summary 

This article looks at one of the major challenges faced by collection managers, which is "to develop and manage an institutional repository." The paper looks at the "issue of content in repositories, and suggests that librarians need to approach the task of content development by applying some of the procedures and skills associated with collection management within more traditional environments" (2004). This is especially relevant because, "Content-related issues will be crucial to the success of these repositories, be they in universities or some other institutional setting" (2004). Genoni also states:

Many libraries have already begun to recognise the value of informal scholarly communication. This is apparent in the numerous subject "portals" that now form part of libraries' information services, and which frequently include guides or links to non-formal as well as formal sources of information. Similarly, institutional repositories should not necessarily be configured as a surrogate form of distribution for formal or peer reviewed scholarship. Rather their full potential may only be realised if they are allowed to develop into a hybrid form, to be used for the dissemination of both formal and informal scholarly communication (2004).

Finally, the article finishes up by saying that when it comes to institutional repositories, content should be what is first and foremost, the most important issue. If the content is not kept to par, the rest of the collection falls apart. Genoni finishes by saying, "So familiar are these tasks that they should be able to be smoothly incorporated into the current collection management programs of libraries, and the associated policy decisions can be recorded within the framework of existing collection development policy documents" (2004).  

Evaluation

I feel that the article does a good job in explaining one of the major issues facing collection management today, and that is making sure there is good content in high ranking institutional repositories. It presents a good study in which data was gathered via surveys, and the author chose from a wide pool of participants. The meticulousness of the study and the details that were gathered really add credibility to the study, and it appears that he is one of the only researchers to tackle this issue. Therefore, this is an article that cannot be overlooked. 

Open textbooks at Oregon State University: A case study of new opportunities for academic libraries and university presses.

Guzman, Laura

Sutton, S. C., & Chadwell, F. A. (2014). Open textbooks at Oregon State University: A case study of new opportunities for academic libraries and university presses. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, 2(4), 4.

Descriptive Summary:

In this article, Sutton and Chadwell (2014) evaluate how open textbooks fit into the developing library publishing movement.   Academic libraries have always dealt with textbook issues.  Students continually ask the library to provide textbooks as prices continue to rise and many students cannot afford to purchase them. 

The idea of open textbooks is an emerging trend that the larger Open Educational Resources (OER) supports.  Many state governments are funding open textbook publishing programs for higher education.  There are important opportunities for libraries to be involved in this movement.  It should be in the mission of the library to remove barriers to the free flow of information in support of teaching and learning. 

In general, the role of library publishing typically involves providing access to monographs, open access journals, technical reports, conference proceedings, and electronic theses and dissertations in their institutional repositories.  In order to publish open textbooks, there is a need to collaborate with faculty and often university presses.  An extension of this collaboration would be reaching out to other universities in order to maximize the scope and impact of open textbook publishing.  Publishing open textbooks is a potential area for growth in the library field that can have a global impact.  

Evaluation:

I work at an academic library and students always ask if we have certain textbooks available in the library.  In general, we do not have textbooks in the library because we want to support the University bookstore and due to textbook editions changing so fast.  I do see the high price of textbooks as a problem for students, especially science majors, whose average textbook cost can be way over $100.00.  I think that open textbook publishing is a great idea and I hope that the movement continues to grow.