Apologies for Cross-Posting Dear Colleagues, The JISC-supported project OpenDOAR - the Directory of Open Access Repositories - is pleased to announce the release of its primary listing of open access archives, available from http://www.opendoar.org Each of the repositories listed in OpenDOAR have been visited by project staff to check the information that is gathered. This in-depth approach gives a quality-controlled list of repository features. In addition, while reviewing these archives, project staff are building a picture of the world-wide development of open access repositories, noting new features and directions. This information is being analysed to create the next version of the listing, with further information and categories being noted for each repository. In the meantime, the newly released list will continue to grow as new repositories are added. The Press Release on this development is available from this link: http://www.opendoar.org/documents/OpenDOAR_Press_Release_Jan06.pdf Regards, Bill * * * OpenDOAR is a joint collaboration between the University of Nottingham in the UK and Lund University in Sweden. Both institutions are active in open access initiatives. Lund operates the Directory of Open Access Journals (www.DOAJ.org), which is known throughout the world. Nottingham leads SHERPA, and runs the SHERPA/RoMEO database, which is used worldwide as a reference for publisher's copyright policies. Staff at Lund University Libraries have created the initial OpenDOAR technical set-up and carried out repository review and classification. OpenDOAR builds on open access work done by other researchers and projects to record and list repositories. Among others, thanks go to the Public Knowledge Project, and the universities of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Southampton. OpenDOAR is jointly funded by four agencies, led by the international Open Society Institute (OSI). The UK higher education funding committee, JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) has provided support, along with funding from the UK-based Consortium of Research Libraries (CURL) and from SPARCEurope - an alliance of European research libraries, library organisations, and research institutions. Lars Bjørnshauge Director of Libraries Lund University Libraries Box 134 S 221 00 Lund, Sweden Email: [log in to unmask] Phone: +46 (0) 46 222 9203 Fax: +46 (0) 46 222 3682 Bill Hubbard SHERPA Manager Information Services King's Meadow Campus University of Nottingham Lenton Lane Nottingham NG7 2NA UK Email: [log in to unmask] Phone: +44 (0) 115 846 7657 Fax: +44 (0) 115 846 8244 This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses, which could damage your computer system: you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.