Institutional research repositories are part of a wider policy and operational framework of repositories, such as learning object repositories and data repositories. They are becoming an essential part of research infrastructure.

1.  Conclusions: libraries are the ultimate repository of knowledge

1. Institutional research repositories are viable. They give authors enhanced exposure and enable improved institutional efficiency.

2. There are a range of technical options, depending on institutional need
   • low cost of entry, but limited functionality — ePrints [1] or Digital Commons [2]
   • mid-range — DSpace [3], ARNO [4] and others
   • high-end — Fedora [5] plus ARROW [6] services layer; the CERN Document Server [7] may be a suitable alternative

3. The technical solution is a minor part of the process; the real challenge is policy and process culture change
   • mandated or voluntary deposit?
   • tie into PBRF (Performance Based Research Funding) reporting?
   • making submission as painless as possible

4. The academic library is the natural home of research repositories, with strong links to research offices
   • safe and trusted custodian
   • understand archiving and preservation needs
   • part of the information infrastructure

5. Repositories are most naturally institution-based, with national resource discovery and discipline slices
   • open standards enable national and international interoperability
   • common metadata schemata enable discovery

2.  Recommendations: enable research discovery through multiple pathways

1. Develop a business case to government for institutional research repositories as an essential enabler of enriched scholarly communication

2. Seek commitment from institutions to fund demonstrator repository projects, and give them support to build their repository capability

3. Ask the National Library to develop a national research resource discovery service that harvests from the demonstrator repositories

4. Seek opportunities to learn from, collaborate with, and contribute to Australian repository and interoperability initiatives

5. Develop strategies to make institutional research repositories a permanent and sustainable part of the national research infrastructure

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