The aim of the Welsh Repository Network (WRN) was to put in place an essential building block for the development of an integrated network of institutional digital repositories in Wales. The project entailed a centrally managed hardware procurement programme designed to provide every HEI in Wales with dedicated and configured repository hardware. In close collaboration with the technical, organisational and operational support specifically provided for Welsh Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) within the JISC funded Repositories Support Project (RSP), also delivered from Aberystwyth University, this initiative provided a cost-effective, collaborative and decisive boost to the repository agenda in Wales and helped JISC achieve the critical mass of populated repositories and digital content that is a stated objective of the Repositories and Preservation Programme....
At its most practical level the principal deliverable of the WRN project has been the provision of repository hardware capacity in each and every HEI in Wales which, in combination with the hands-on technical support provided by the RSP, enabled all 12 HEIs to have functional institutional repositories by March 2009. More generally, the project has contributed a series of case studies and test sites that provide the wider JISC community with practical insights into the process of matching alternative organisational models, repository types and hardware configurations to different geographical and institutional settings. The main conclusion to be drawn from the WRN is that while providing funds for procuring hardware helps to push repository development up the institutional agenda, the support that goes with the funding, especially the technical support, is a far more crucial factor in generating a successful and lasting outcome.
From the body of the report:
It was agreed that the phased establishment of the WRN would be characterised by the following principal components: ...An operational open access digital repository in every Welsh HEI, that forms an integral part of the learning, teaching, research and administrative fabric of its host institution....
The predicted outcomes from the project plan were as follows: ...Trigger creation of 10 new open access digital institutional repositories and place an additional 2 pilot repositories on a firm footing, thereby building capacity and contributing to the achievement of critical mass that is an objective of the Start-Up strand of the Repositories and Preservation Programme....Act as a catalyst for institutional commitment to open access in Wales and provide a powerful stimulus to collaborative repository development based on best practice and common standards....
The project has successfully facilitated all these outcomes....
A key aspect of the project has been that the technical support provided via the WRN has allowed the development of repositories at a level that would have otherwise been impossible, particularly in some of the smaller institutions involved....
More generally, the project has raised the profile of the research agenda within Wales, especially through the publicity received upon the launch of the repositories and the kudos of being the first country within the UK to offer national coverage of Open Access repositories. Moreover, the regular and well attended series of WRN meetings of institutional representatives held during the past two years and the associated email discussion list has created a genuine community of repository managers in Wales, who now exchange information and share ideas and who have derived confidence and encouragement in their institutional work from the mutual support that the network provides.
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.
