Risk Management

Like all projects there are a range of risks that could adversely affect the implementation of an institutional repository. Project risk management is covered in detail in the Project Management infoKit.

In terms of repositories there are risks associated with content if ownership is unclear or if content has not been copyright cleared. If someone questions any content held in a repository the generally held view is that a take-down policy should adopt a safety-first approach and have as a first action removal of the item, or at least removing it from public view. A more considered evaluation of possible copyright infringement or other legal difficulty can then be made, secure in the knowledge that the institution has at least made some immediate response. After consideration, where the process might take some time to resolve, the item can then be removed completely or re-exposed accordingly.

Prompt action by the institution would demonstrate that some care and responsibility has been taken. If the item remains visible while the difficulty is identified and resolved, then any problem will have been compounded by its remaining visible throughout. A court may decide that this behaviour merits punishment in itself, quite apart from the original transgression.

A take-down policy should state what action should be taken, by whom, and in what time frame, to secure the situation. This might be something as simple as saying that any complaint will be passed on within 'x' hours of receipt on a working day to be assessed for removal of the public record within, say, 24 hours or shorter. There would then need to be some defined process where the complaint could be properly assessed and an appropriate course of action taken.