Supporting further and higher education Eprints Software Roundtable 23 rd June 2004
2 Background Origins in ??? project within eLib Programme Expanded use since then, both nationally and internationally Big influence on open access movement Inspiration for similar systems
3 The FAIR Programme Focus on Access to Institutional Resources Investigating the deposit and disclosure of institutional resources –includes research outputs e-prints and e-theses Additional funding for Eprints provided at start of FAIR Programme –Five projects using Eprints software at over 20 institutions –Funding expires September 2004
4 Software Developments within JISC Many projects produce software JISC is not a software house –Funds what is required to serve JISCs needs, i.e., nationally-focused –Limited resources for long-term commitment Variety of routes used by projects –OSS –Commercial –Partnership –Project-funding
5 Requirements for Eprints Underlying points to address to inform future development –What is Eprints? –Who are its stakeholders? –What is it used for? –What is its competition?
6 Issues Technical development path –Is current architecture/platform the most appropriate? Skills sets required –How to facilitate institutional/organisational take-up Eprints in the context of the wider role of repositories
7 Roundtable and the Future Today is an opportunity to feed in ideas Responsibility and ownership Thank you for coming!
8 Thank you Chris Awre JISC Programme Manager