The role of institutional repository in digital scholarly

Abstract

In this electronic publishing age, academic institutions including universities have increasingly recognised that an institutional repository (IR) is an essential infrastructure of scholarly dissemination. An IR is a digital research archive consisting of accessible collections of scholarly work that represent the intellectual capital of an institution. It is a means for institutions to manage the digital scholarship their communities produce, maximise access to research outputs both before and after publication and also to increase the visibility and academic prestige of both the institution and authors. This paper discusses the benefits and obstacles of setting up an IR, and librarians’ and authors’ roles in the successful management of an IR. As the strength and advantages of DS can only be maximized through effective IRs, the paper recommends that an IR be considered as the principal benchmark of digital scholarship. This paper was based on desk-top research/review of relevant literature and the authors’ observations and points of view.