Building a Sustainable Irish Open Repository Network: Where We Are Now and Where We Are Going

The launch of Open Repositories Ireland (ORI) in December 2024 marked a major milestone in Ireland’s open research infrastructure, bringing together repository managers and staff to enhance repository development, metadata standardisation, and long-term digital preservation. 

IReL Director Susan Reilly gives the ORI Launch keynote speech

This initiative arises from the NORF Open Access Repositories Project, which identified critical gaps in Ireland’s repository landscape and developed a strategic approach to sustainability and interoperability. ORI represents a concerted effort to align Ireland’s repositories with international best practices, ensuring that research outputs are widely accessible, easily discoverable, and preserved for future generations. But it is also a community for those working in repositories to share knowledge, advice, and to lend support, whether technical or moral.

Pilot Project

Another key phase in the project was the pilot study to develop metadata guidance for repositories based upon OpenAIRE Guidelines for Literature Repository Managers 4.0. The pilot engaged four institutions including Atlantic Technological University (ATU)[JC4] , University of Galway, the Marine Institute, and the Health Service Executive (HSE) to assess repository workflows, metadata standards, and OpenAIRE compliance. 

The project had revealed several critical challenges that repositories across Ireland face, including inconsistencies in metadata schema, limited integration between repository and Current Research Information Systems (CRIS), and the need for more robust digital preservation strategies. Many institutions reported relying on manual processes for metadata entry and content ingestion, with significant variations in how metadata is structured and managed. This lack of standardisation made it difficult to ensure compliance with OpenAIRE and international best practices. The project also found that while some institutions had begun implementing persistent identifiers (PIDs) such as ORCID for people, the collection and use of these identifiers were inconsistent, limiting the potential for seamless metadata integration and researcher visibility. The study also highlighted technical challenges, with many institutions still operating on older versions of technology platform that require upgrades to fully support OpenAIRE 4.0.

Updated Metadata Guidance

The most significant output of the pilot study is the development of the Open Repositories Ireland: OpenAIRE v4 Metadata Guidance for DSpace Repositories. This guidance provides structured recommendations to ensure Irish repositories align with OpenAire’s international metadata standards for repositories, thereby improving the discoverability, interoperability, and long-term accessibility of research outputs. The guidance includes specifications on mandatory metadata fields such as Title, Creator, Publication Date, and Resource Type, ensuring that all repositories adhere to a baseline standard. It also highlights the importance of implementing persistent identifiers for authors, institutions, and funding references, improving the traceability and credibility of research outputs. In addition, the guidance outlines best practices for managing embargo and access rights policies, ensuring clarity on content availability while supporting compliance with open access mandates. One of the more complex aspects of repository metadata management has been the inconsistent handling of funding metadata. The new guidance standardises how funding metadata is recorded and structured, ensuring better alignment with European Commission requirements and international funder mandates.

ORI: Next Steps

With the launch of ORI, Ireland now has a dedicated membership organisation supporting repository sustainability through governance, training, and infrastructure development. ORI serves as a national community of practice, enabling repository managers to share expertise, address challenges, and collaborate on best practices. By fostering continuous learning, ORI aims to build a resilient repository ecosystem that adapts to evolving technological and policy landscapes.

ORI Community of Practice interactive session

Training and professional development are central to ORI’s strategy, with planned workshops on metadata curation, repository management, and OpenAIRE v4 compliance. These initiatives will equip repository staff with the skills needed to maintain high-quality metadata. Beyond training, ORI advocates for the sustainability of Ireland’s open repository network by engaging policymakers, funders, and institutions to secure long-term infrastructure support and prioritise open access. ORI also seeks to enhance the global visibility of Irish repositories through international collaborations and strategic outreach. Sustainable repositories require a multi-faceted approach, including governance, technical infrastructure, and community engagement. This involves metadata improvements, repository upgrades, and CRIS system integrations to support long-term preservation.

Sinéad Hanrahan, Digital Scholarship Services Librarian at Munster Technological University, leads the Community of Practice discussion

ORI’s priorities include aligning metadata across all Irish repositories for OpenAIRE 4.0 compliance, improving CRIS integration, and developing preservation policies for Ireland’s digital research assets. Strengthening advocacy will be key to securing additional funding and institutional support. ORI builds on the work of the NORF OA Repositories Project, ensuring Ireland’s repositories are sustainable and globally connected. A key part of ORI’s vision is fostering cross-institutional collaboration. By uniting universities, research institutes, and governmental agencies, ORI facilitates knowledge exchange and best practice development. Collaborative projects on metadata enrichment, repository integration, and digital preservation will strengthen Ireland’s repository ecosystem. Partnerships with European initiatives such as EOSC will further advance open research on a continental scale.

As Ireland transitions to a more integrated and sustainable open research environment, ORI will play a pivotal role by providing resources, training, and advocacy. Ensuring compliance, enhancing research visibility, and supporting long-term preservation, ORI will shape the future of Ireland’s digital research infrastructure and reinforce its role in the global open access movement.

You can read more of the project’s reports and outputs on the project’s Zenodo page and find out more on the project website, including information and a sign-up for ORI.