Re: Functioning IRs - today's real realities

From: Pippa Smart <psmart_at_INASP.INFO>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2005 12:50:57 +0000

The requirements of Yale have - probably inevitably - led to the large cost
of implementation as stated by Ann Okerson, and for them there were
probably no turnkey solutions - I am sure they would have considered ePrints.

Another interesting cost comparison of launching and operating these
repositories has been collated by Rebecca Kemp from University of North
Carolina. It gives costs from 10 libraries from the USA, UK, Canada and
Ireland, and shows a range from $6k to $1million for setup.
<http://library.uncwil.edu/Faculty/kempr/listserv-summary-IR-open-source-costs.xls>http://library.uncwil.edu/Faculty/kempr/listserv-summary-IR-open-source-costs.xls

Pippa


At 17:52 30/11/2005, Steve Hitchcock wrote:
>*Cross posted*
>
>Ann Okerson has published a curiously-titled short note about IRs in the
>latest issue of INASP Newsletter:
>Institutional repositories ­ today's realities
>http://www.inasp.info/newslet/nov05.shtml#8
>
>In it she lists an extended range of functions for an IR, then admits
>there are currently no turnkey solutions to support this list, only
>partial solutions, and that this specification is costly: "three-year
>start-up costs for hardware and software alone are over $300,000", without
>including staff costs apparently. This is surely way beyond the costs
>supportable by INASP's constituency, and probably most other institutions
>too who just want to get an IR up and running quickly at low cost.
>
>Today's realities are quite different. There is an alternative that will
>provide a functioning IR to capture and make accessible all the research
>outputs of an institution at a fraction of Ann's quoted cost. It's based
>on EPrints, the original IR software, a focussed IR solution that works
>now, but isn't mentioned in Ann's note.
>
>Although EPrints is free, open source software, there are costs attached
>to running an IR, but institutions should not be put off by excessive cost
>projections. To prove it the newly launched EPrints Services team offers a
>range of service packages from supporting local hosting to a fully hosted
>service http://www.eprints.org/services/sales/
>This approach also goes some way to reducing an institution's risk on costs.
>
>To understand why IRs are needed and how to build one, Professor Arthur
>Sale, a developer of software to measure usage of IRs, offers a practical
>approach
>http://www.eprints.org/news/features/worlds_best_practice.php
>
>Ann is not alone in advocating more complex and costly DL-inspired
>functionality for IRs, and it will arrive, but these investigations can be
>left to others for now. This is how Arthur Sale puts it: "Can people fly
>flags and ring bells over conquering Everest when it turns out to be
>Highgate Hill?"
>
>
>Steve Hitchcock
>EPrints Community Manager
>IAM Group, School of Electronics and Computer Science
>University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
>Email: sh94r_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk
>Tel: +44 (0)23 8059 3256 Fax: +44 (0)23 8059 2865
>http://www.eprints.org/community/

**********
Pippa Smart (Mrs)
Head, Publishing Initiatives
International Network for the Availability of Scientific Information (INASP)
58 St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1ST, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1865 249909
Fax: +44 ()1865 251060
Email: psmart_at_inasp.info
Web: www.inasp.info
*********
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Received on Fri Dec 09 2005 - 03:43:13 GMT

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