Advancing Ireland's Open Repository Landscape : A Webinar on Project Findings and Where We Go From Here
On 30 June 2024, the National Open Access Repository Project hosted a webinar, gathering key stakeholders, experts, and community members to discuss one of Ireland’s most important initiatives for enhancing open access to research. Funded by the National Open Research Forum (NORF), this project aims to align the island of Ireland’s fragmented repository landscape into a standardised and globally connected network. The project holds particular significance as part of Ireland’s broader research and innovation agenda, encapsulated in its National Action Plan for Open Research 2022-2030.
I had the privilege of co-chairing the webinar with Dr
Cillian Joy, Head of Open and Digital Research at the University of Galway,
with distinguished guests invited from the Project Board to share their considerable expertise and experience. The goal of this project is more than just technical upgrades. It’s
about aligning Ireland’s repositories to support Green open access and
bibliodiversity, while ensuring that Irish research outputs are discoverable
both locally and internationally. It’s a critical part of Ireland’s broader
research and innovation agenda, particularly under the National Action Plan for
Open Research 2022-2030.
Ireland has a diverse and fragmented repository network,
with different institutions managing repositories in various ways. The goal of
this project is to bring these institutions together under a unified and
aligned network that not only facilitates Green OA but also makes research
outputs more discoverable and accessible using international best practices on metadata, while supporting the community that makes this possible through their dedication and hard work.
The hour-long session aimed to introduce the broader
community to the project’s data collection efforts, its detailed findings, the
progress of its pilot programme, and its vision for the future. Attendees also
learned about the critical importance of metadata alignment, the current
challenges facing repository management, and the roadmap for advancing the
project beyond its initial phases.
This webinar was an opportunity to bring together key
stakeholders, repository managers, and community members to reflect on the project
findings so far and to discuss where we see it headed. The webinar was intended
to demonstrate the complexities of aligning metadata across Ireland’s various
repositories. Yes, it is a difficult technical challenge, but one that’s vital
if we want our research outputs to be easily discoverable, accessible, and
internationally compliant. More importantly, this effort requires community
engagement, as we’re not just building a single, top-down repository system. We’re
building a network that’s community-led and shaped by its users.
The Vision: An
Aligned National Repository Network
Our vision for this project is simple but ambitious; to
transition Ireland’s diverse repositories into an aligned repository network.
This system must be locally decentralised but globally connected. What
that means is that individual institutions will still have control over their
repositories, but they’ll be working within a framework that aligns with
international best practices.
A big part of this is the standardisation of metadata.
Different institutions use different approaches, which leads to inconsistencies
that can make it harder to comply with international standards like OpenAIRE.
This fragmentation is one of the biggest challenges we’re addressing. By
aligning metadata practices, we’re making sure that research is discoverable
and accessible worldwide through enhanced data practices. At the same time, the
project emphasises a community-centric approach, valuing feedback from
institutions, repository managers, and other stakeholders to shape its
direction and ensure its success.
Early Findings and
the Importance of Metadata
The data collection phase of the project gave us valuable
insights into the makeup of Ireland’s repositories. Through surveys,
interviews, and stakeholder discussions, we learned that metadata fragmentation
isn’t just a technical issue but also about visibility, funding, and staffing.
Many institutions are grappling with limited resources and technical challenges
that make it difficult to maintain and develop their repositories.
These challenges aren’t unique to Ireland but reflect
broader global issues within the open access landscape. Part of what makes this project so interesting and valuable is that we have the opportunity to set an example for countries
wishing to follow a decentralised but aligned approach. Our work demonstrates
how a community-led, grassroots approach to repository management can work at scale.
The Pilot Programme: A First Step Towards Alignment
One of the most exciting parts of this project has been the
pilot phase, where we’ve been working with four key repositories: Atlantic
Technological University (ATU), the Health Service Executive (HSE), the
University of Galway, and the Marine Institute. Each of these institutions
brings different use cases, workflows, and challenges to this phase. With the
invaluable collaboration and support of Bram Luyten and Atmire, the pilot has
made real progress on these technical challenges. It’s been a meticulous
process, working through each metadata field to create a standardised approach
that can eventually be rolled out across Irish repositories. We’re only halfway
through, but the progress so far has been very encouraging.
Community Engagement:
The Heart of the Project
One of the key messages we’ve emphasised throughout the
project is that community engagement is critical to its success. This isn’t a
top-down initiative where we dictate how repositories should operate. Instead,
we’re taking a community-centric approach, where feedback from repository
managers and other stakeholders is central to shaping the project’s direction.
During the roundtable discussion in the webinar, we heard
from panelists Seán Harnett from Atlantic Technical University, Caleb Derven from the University
of Limerick, and Andrew Simpson from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
They shared their experiences, highlighting the need for sustainable funding
models, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across the community.
We also previewed a new membership organisation, Open
Repositories Ireland, to support repository managers and become a community focal
point for training, collaboration, best practice and advocacy.
The Road Ahead:
Sustainable Solutions and Long-Term Goals
Looking ahead, the project’s success will depend on more
than just technical alignment. We need to ensure that the work we’re doing now
can be sustained in the long term. One of the big challenges repositories is
funding.
As we outlined in the webinar, we’re working on a roadmap
that will take us to 2030 and beyond. This roadmap will guide the next steps,
from bringing more repositories into alignment to strengthening the network
across institutions. The pilot phase is just the beginning. Our vision is to
build a repository system that’s sustainable, innovative, and a leader in
global Green open access initiatives.
Reflecting on the
Future
As the project manager, I’m optimistic about where the community is headed. I’m also aware of the challenges that lie ahead. We have an incredible community that’s passionate about Green open access and committed to making this project a success. But we need to continue advocating for sustainable funding, strategic alignment, and community engagement to make sure we reach our goal of 100% open access in Ireland by 2030.
This webinar was just the first of many steps. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I’m confident that with the support of the community and continued collaboration, we’ll be able to achieve our vision of a unified, standardised, and globally connected Irish repository network.
Watch the webinar: https://youtu.be/VBKeEB2qzYA?si=-MqJEFoGwxu4ABMW
Dr Christopher Loughnane is the NORF Open Access Repositories Project Manager at the University of Galway Library
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