...In preparing [a recent] presentation I looked around for repository models and suddenly realised I had been using one for years - Sourceforge....SF is a repository for computer code and manages complete version control and also a complete collaborative environment. I make a change to the code - it gets a new version number, but also I can still retrieve all previous versions. Also Any of my collaborators can make changes and I update seamlessly to include all their enhancements. So why not use the same software - SVN - to manage our repositories.
Publishing a scholarly manuscript is a complex workflow....BUT using SVN it’s trivial - assuming there is a repository.
So we do not speak of an Institutional Repository, but an authoring support environment....
[Co-authors] all edit the m/s. Everyone sees the latest version. The version sent to the publisher is annotated as such (this is trivial). All subsequent stuff is tracked automatically.
When the paper is published, the institution simply liberates the authorised version - the authors don’t even need to be involved.
The attractive point of this - over simple deposition - is that the repository supports the whole authoring process.
If you want to start, set up SVN - it’s easy and there are zillions of geeks who know how to do it. It’s free, of course, and also very good....
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/24/2007 10:24:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
