New Content in Digital Repositories

Foreword

A view from Simon Hodson

Digital repositories – even those based in universities and dubbed ‘Institutional Repositories’ – are no longer used just for looking after PDF pre-prints. The role of the repository is shifting and the nature of its content is as well. Repositories are increasingly key components in the information infrastructure that helps universities, funders and researchers manage – and show off – their outputs. To put it another way, they are central to the themes of research accountability and research accessibility as discussed in this volume. Year by year, repositories and related systems are making it easier for universities to respond to research assessment exercises, such as those produced by the UK’s REF. Researchers’ ...