The End of Institutional Repositories & the Beginning of Social Academic Research Service (16th June 2009)…

“Is it not possible for IRs [ repositories ] to serve as full-fledged electronic libraries and thereby serve the greater purpose of collecting, disseminating, analyzing and exchanging useful digital information for academic purposes? Should not the IR be coupled with the full range of academic and research support services that new technologies permit? […] The challenge, as I see it, is to keep librarians from undermining themselves. […] IRs can be utilized in far more creative ways to enhance the research endeavor.”

Although one might compare such aspirations with the view from the trenches, as expressed in Innkeeper at the Roach Motel…

“Academic librarianship has not supported repositories or their managers. Most libraries consistently under-resource and understaff repositories, further worsening the participation gap. Software and services have been wildly out of touch with faculty needs and the realities of repository management.”