Surrey Uni gets a First in Institutional Repository

The University of Surrey has bypassed freeware solutions and signed ProQuest to host its institutional repository. This is the first installation of Digital Commons @ in the UK – a new initiative from database publisher ProQuest.

The success of the repository is likely to depend on cultural factors and the university felt it was important to focus on acceptance and use of the repository, rather than getting tied up in technology issues.

Kate Price, e-strategy and resources manager at the university library, said: “The emphasis of our project from the very outset has been on the attitudes of our academics and university management, rather than on the technology of the repository platform, so the less work we need to put into the technical side, the better from our point of view.

Price said the university had researched platforms widely. “We looked at ePrints, DSpace and other freeware solutions, in conjunction with IT Services, but then the ProQuest product came onto the market, offering a very attractive low-cost option.
Price said Digital Commons @ seemed the ideal solution. “It fitted within our budget, did not require us to purchase hardware, or configure database software and allowed us to brand the interface as we wished. To get a fully-working institutional repository up and running took a matter of days, and this allowed us to concentrate on getting content uploaded.”

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