Hi Sarah
While I'm thinking about your situation I might add some more
thoughts...
I guess initially how you approach an advocacy campaign will depend upon
the resources available to you - particularly staff time. If you want to
get content very quickly then I could recommend some approaches for you.
If you have the time I think the personal touch can be very rewarding.
We spent some time searching through the university's web domain looking
for early adopters who already have content (journal articles,
pre-prints etc) online. You will be surprised what is out there already.
Have a look at our early attempts to get an idea of what is involved:
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue37/andrew/
Once we found academics with content online we approached them and asked
if we could take the content and put it in the repository. One of the
main problems we encountered early on was mild skepticism about the
repository itself, e.g. longevity.
The approach of targetted content recruitment is not particularly
scaleable or sustainable in the long term but it could help ease
short-term empty cupboards!
Hope this helps
Theo
-----Original Message-----
From: Repositories discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sarah Kaufman
Sent: 11 January 2006 14:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Repository content
Dear all,
Here at Manchester Metropolitan University, we are currently in the
process of setting up our institutional repository. At this moment, we
have yet to populate the repository, and have yet to establish the best
ways in which to get content for the repository and at the same time
raising awareness of the service.
Among the strategies currently considered for this task are speaking to
research directors (either face-to-face or via e-mail), contacting
academics that have published widely, producing publicity and publishing
articles in university publications/newsletters, and being present at
departmental meetings, to speak directly about the repository and answer
any questions/concerns. Of course, doing all this does not guarantee
content, and we have discovered that although many academics are willing
and interested, actually getting hold of the content is another matter
entirely. We have yet to establish whether or not we are going to offer
a mediated service or are going to encourage self-archiving. Reasons for
not getting the content include fears of copyright infringement and
misunderstanding of the issues; I rather suspect that some may feel
whatever they have to do to contribute will take up too much time.
How have other repositories gone about a) raising awareness of the
repository and b) having raised awareness, getting content for
submission into the repository? Have you encountered any problems with
trying to promote a service still very much in its infancy and with
little (or no) content? Have you found that the more content you have,
the more willing others are to deposit?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.
Sarah Kaufman
-------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Kaufman
Assistant Librarian
Electronic Services Development Team/e-space
Manchester Metropolitan University
Minshull House
47 - 49 Chorlton Street
Manchester
M1 3FY
(0161) 247 6115 (ESDT)
(0161) 247 6677 (e-space)
[log in to unmask]
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/library
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