Embedding our Institutional Repository into the institutional research culture Institutional Repositories and Research Assessment (IRRA) British Computer Society 7 April Wendy White Hartley Library University of Southampton

University of Southampton: endorsement through mandate Prof Philip Nelson DVC for Research and Enterprise University mandate for all potential RAE outputs to be deposited Funding to boost IR support for the RAE Aim for IR to be fully embedded as tool for research support Endorsement from DVC for Research and Heads of Schools

Southampton Press Release 15 Dec 2004 We see our Institutional Repository as a key tool for the stewardship of the University's digital research assets,' said Professor Paul Curran, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University. 'It will provide greater access to our research, as well as offering a valuable mechanism for reporting and recording it.

Integrated planning Strong links with the overall University RAE management From data sub-group to a full member of the University RAE Planning Group Research repository an integral part of data collection and evaluation Member of Planning Dept with key responsibility for the RAE attends our bi-weekly repository meetings

Advocacy – build on what youve got Build on existing links drawing in liaison librarians Three staff share out role of lead link for the 20 Schools – one 0.5 FTE dedicated to this role, 2 roles embedded as part of day to day work Variety of models of activity – author self-deposit, School administrator deposit, upload from existing School database

Deep liaison Challenge of getting deep levels of liaison e.g. technical staff, School RAE Manager, School editors, Deputy Heads of School Research, Heads of Schools Even bigger challenge of engaging with all staff for RAE output selection RAE deadlines are taken seriously but problem of awareness of roles and timescales for stages e.g. metadata evaluation

Challenges Clarifying areas of responsibility - the IR is not a reason for others to give us poor quality bibliographic information There are always Schools who are less engaged and resistance to the open access movement is still as factor Workflow – some Schools want most of their papers to choose from creating a heavy demand for metadata validation in a short timescale e.g records Diversity of disciplines – performances, artefacts, software and the full range of RAE types

Copyright concerns Need access to electronic full text of all journal articles not just for RAE panel members but to facilitate internal review Staff clearly want to see final publisher PDF for accurate review Not an open access issue but an issue for the RAE

Publisher permissions 188 publishers contacted from the SHERPA/ROMEO list plus key additional publishers suggested by liaison librarians Permission sought for storage of the publisher PDFs in the IR for institutional (NOT open) access to support the RAE process 52 gave permission, 12 refusals Not comprehensive – would have been really useful to have a national agreement

Metadata team 1.6 FTE core staffing (1 as team manager and trainer) For RAE currently 4.6 FTE additional temporary staffing and equivalent of 1.8 FTE seconded from library activity (4 staff) Staffing has some fluidity – training investment and QA risk

Workflow challenge Checking accuracy of metadata, verifying publication, adding subject headings (Library of Congress) and adding DOIs and other appropriate full text links Tight timescale, a lot of records needs to go through quickly – RAE is going hand in hand with ongoing work but currently adding around 150 records a day - will increase over the next couple of months

Software assistance Enhanced sort facilities for the editorial review/submission buffer Stats for editors work to monitor workflow and for QA Function so inadequate records can be sent back to nominated School contact from the editorial review – once an output is selected for the RAE from the live records automatic flag for missing RAE metadata

RAE and open access – some conflict Post print – hinder deposit for open access IR mapping – extra work but additional functionality and QA New staff pleased to have interest in their work through visibility Publisher PDF But can build on this - trying give us what you have got strategy Reluctant to give up School databases Ensuring most staff represented on IR freely accessible

Original research route map – RAE now a full part of this integration

RAE – what next! Ensure we build on this RAE experience to lay grounding for ongoing research reporting - not just a one off experience for IRs Explore links to metrics – part of a much bigger OA picture of looking at access, downloads and impact on citations RAE a good driver to make progress across the disciplines – encourage take up in the Arts and Humanities – possible enhancement and promotion of interdisciplinary research Build on fully comprehensive approach across the institution – now much closer to ongoing storage of all research output Work on broader offer to researchers e.g. personal pages, links to bibliographic software, CVs etc. Look at preservation issues but not as a barrier to access ………