1. Supporting further and higher education Eprints Software Roundtable 23 rd June 2004

2. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 7 Roundtable and the Future Today is an opportunity to feed in ideas Responsibility and ownership Thank you for coming!

8. 8 Thank you Chris Awre JISC Programme Manager c.awre@jisc.ac.uk http://www.jisc.ac.uk/people_awre_c.html