Supporting Repository Users

Aside from staff directly responsible for the repository, you will want to consider the training needs of users within your institution. Primarily, this will address training for members of staff who are likely to deposit, but you may want to consider training for those who will be the consumers of the material in your repository.

Training members of staff who will be depositing could easily be incorporated into advocacy for using the repository. Keeping it as light as possible should help to encourage deposit as most systems have deposit interfaces that are intuitive enough for most academics. How much training you want to give to depositing academics will also depend on whether you opt for self-archiving or for mediated deposit.

As systems move closer to providing 'one-click' deposit solutions, it may be advisable not to draw attention to the extra effort of making a deposit by making a 'training' issue out of it, as this could discourage the academic. Make sure that that they know how and where to get support if they should need it.

Most consumers of the material in your repository are likely to come from outside your institution, and many of your own students and academics who find material in the repository will find content through a search engine, or possibly a library catalogue, if this searches your repository. However, you might want to consider covering issues to do with open access and the existence of the repository at library inductions for students and new staff. You could also use the opportunity to show them how to search the repository too.

Support Services

Contact details for support should be liberally spread throughout your repository website. You should at least provide a generic support email address and helpline phone number and, if possible, named contacts for support. There should always be someone available to answer queries as promptly as possible. Ideally there should be more than one person to field queries, even if one person simply takes messages for the main contact during busy periods or absences.

You are likely to receive requests for general advice on the eligibility of depositors and material, and on any institutional mandates and policies. You are also likely to get requests for practical advice on registration, PDF-making, and deposition. All these topics may already be covered by your online guides or FAQ. Direct requests may therefore indicate a lack of clarity, so you should constantly review your online documentation in the light of queries.