Costs

Although a range of open source repository software is available for free, there are a number of other costs that need to be considered when planning the implementation of a repository. It is not simply a case of purchasing the hardware and installing the software - when it comes to implementing and running a repository, there is a high level of human resource cost that needs to be considered as well. If a repository is to be successful it must be considered as part of the institution's long term strategy, which therefore requires planned investment in the short, medium and long term. Therefore, to both create and maintain an institutional repository, financial, staffing and time resources will need to be invested.

Typical hardware costs

Informal evidence collected by the RSP indicated that the amount being spent on hardware for repositories varied greatly, ranging from virtually nothing for pilot services, through to a few thousand pounds, up to top end of the scale where thousands and thousands of pounds were being invested in computing hardware for the repository. The Welsh Repository Network, a JISC funded Repository Start-Up Project, provided each of the higher education institutions within Wales with £4000 for hardware costs to support an institutional repository. The project enabled every institution to host an institutional repository, many of which having had no repository in place at the beginning of the project.

Staff Costs

The human level of resource needed for a repository is variable, although experiences in the sector have demonstrated that a greater resourcing tends to result in a more rapid ingest of materials.

Start-up costs

• Advertising for, and appointing, a suitably qualified repository administrator
• Time needed with staff to choose the appropriate software
• Expertise of technical Staff to install the software
• Time needed to administer it, make changes and amendments
• Developing repository policies and an overarching strategy
• Establishing a steering group or advisory panel
• Training support staff, researchers, teachers and other end users
• Adapting existing learning and teaching materials for deposit - this could range from simple digitisation of existing materials to redeveloping materials, adapting pedagogic contexts and stripping inappropriately licensed content
• Time spend integrating repositories with other institutional systems
• Publicising the repository as well as full-blown advocacy campaigns
• Investigating legal issues such as licences, copyright etc and possibly establishing appropriate licences for different content

Ongoing demands

Certainly the task of promoting the benefits, while at the same time reassuring staff on their concerns about using a repository, is a complex, resource intensive task. It is not an area which can be ticked off a list as ever being entirely complete. It is also an aspect that may ebb and surge unexpectedly due to developments within the institution or across the scholarly world. However, the one constant is that there will always be some area of the repository work with which staff will be required to engage; such as:

• Ongoing support needs of end users
• Creating content records (metadata) - some argue that this is a relatively straightforward process where anyone can do it, while others argue that it is a highly specialised skill - many adopt multiple approaches to adding metadata which may involve several staff through a complex workflow
• Ensuring that staff are placing appropriate content into the repository
• Assessing quality of learning and teaching content
• Supporting digitisation/packaging of learning materials
• Considering the implementation of a mandate (requirement) for all staff to deposit into the repository
• Educating and investigating rights of who owns what
• Assisting academics in recovering their rights to deposit research materials through direct interaction with their publishers
• Running usability testing with the user community and revising the site interface as a result
• Allaying fears from academics on issues such as whether or not their publishers will allow them to store their publications in a repository, if their learning materials are of sufficient quality to release openly, or if people will misuse their learning materials
• Assisting staff to select the most appropriate level of openness and licence if options are provided