Repository Steering Groups

A well-chosen, well-informed and committed Steering Group can make an important contribution to the sustained success of a repository. A repository Steering Group (or Project Board, Management Committee etc.) undertakes the high level management of a repository on behalf of an educational institution. The Steering Group helps to ensure that the strategic objectives of a repository are aligned with those of the parent organisation, and to ensure that the necessary resources are made available for the repository to be effective. It is a forum for discussion and decision-making, for the approval and signing-off of plans and actions, for arbitration and solution-finding; it should also champion all the publicity and dissemination activity linked to the repository. A Steering Group may be formed with a limited lifespan, to oversee a fixed-term repository project, or it may have a remit for a repository as a longer-term, independent concern (with or without a project element).

Terms of Reference

Terms of reference help participants and others to understand the role of a Steering Group. HEIs often have standard terms of reference for their Project Boards and Committees. If so, these would normally be used as a starting point, with adaptation where appropriate to reflect the repository remit. The terms of reference for a typical repository Steering Group might embrace some or all of the following themes:

Overseeing the implementation and operation of the repository

• Policy-making and strategic decision-taking
• Monitoring budgets and staffing resources: ensuring that necessary resources are committed to the repository, and ensuring that any plans are achievable
• Monitoring progress against plans and agreed objectives; evaluation
• Overseeing and championing advocacy of the repository at all levels within the HEI, and maximising opportunities for publicity and dissemination
• Reviewing outcomes and their impact within the HEI and elsewhere
• Maintaining an awareness of similar activities and initiatives, and funding opportunities, nationally and in the wider world
• Regular reporting, either to a named senior individual, or to a parent committee
• Securing the long-term sustainability of the repository, ensuring that it is firmly embedded in the strategic thinking of the institution

Issues associated with the day-to-day management and population of the repository might include:

• The respective merits of mediated deposit and true 'self-archiving'. Is one or other more likely to result in deposited content, and what are the resource implications of success?

• Copyright policies and institutional risk tolerance

• The collection policy. What types of research output should be eligible? What types of learning materials should be included? What levels of metadata are required by depositors? What range of licences for use should be available? How open should the repository be?

• The advocacy programme. When to target a particular audience, and how best to gain their support

• The evaluation of opportunities for external project funding

Issues relating to the place of the repository in the wider institutional strategic framework might include:

• The potential for the repository to serve as a comprehensive publications database
• Supporting an institution's preparation for, and success in, external research assessment
• Supporting learning, teaching and assessment strategies and objectives
• Raising the profile of the institution and showcasing high quality learning materials
• The potential for the repository to contribute to institutional performance in national and international web rankings and league tables

Examples of longer-term strategic issues for the HEI, which might be influenced by a repository Steering Group, include:

• The managed curation of digital objects other than research outputs and learning & teaching materials, such as primary datasets and departmental image collections
• Institutional digitisation strategy
• Institutional strategy on digital preservation
• Institutional approach to openness of learning and teaching materials

For the Steering Group to be influential, and for it to keep in touch with wider institutional strategy, it should be chaired by a senior member of staff - ideally, the Vice-Principal/Deputy or Pro Vice-Chancellor/Director responsible for Research or for Learning, Teaching & Assessment, or the chair of the 'parent' committee (if applicable). In addition to the Chair and the Repository Manager, the Steering Group might include:

• Chief Librarian, and relevant Library staff
• Senior computing support staff
• Research Administration staff
• Head of Educational development
• Head of Learning Technology
• Staff with research assessment responsibilities
• Representation from the Corporate Communications/Marketing department
• Academic researchers from different disciplines
• Copyright Officer

Seniority is less important than an ability to report the needs of researchers and teachers, and to champion the repository within a given constituency. The Arts research practices and formats, particularly in the Fine Arts, can present some interesting challenges, and should not be overlooked in a research repository!

The Steering Group needs to meet with sufficient frequency to support continuity, without meeting so often that it becomes immersed in day-to-day detail. In an HEI, termly meetings may suffice. Some considerations when planning the meetings structure are the:

• Institution's usual pattern of committee meetings
• Meetings schedule of the 'parent' committee, where applicable
• Timing of internal funding rounds
• Demands and timescales of any specific projects for which the Steering Group is responsible