An interoperable and well-functioning network of repositories is an essential component of US national research infrastructure and will play a crucial role in creating a more open and equitable global scholarly communications system. With the advent of the recent OSTP Memorandum requiring Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research, there is a need to help repositories identify tools and practices to ensure that they can become an effective compliance option for this policy.
In November 2023, the US Repository Network (USRN) launched a pilot project aimed at improving the discoverability of articles in repositories. This pilot project involves the use of services from CORE, a not-for-profit aggregator based at Open University in the UK, to evaluate and improve local repository practices. Additional technical support will be provided by Antleaf Ltd.
As part of the project, CORE will aggregate the metadata and full text of articles from a subset of US repositories, allowing them to be findable through a centralized discovery service with prominent links back to the original full text of the repository. At the same time, the project will assess current practices related to metadata quality, the tracking of Open Access deposits, the use of PIDs, technical support for OAI-PMH, and the adoption of more recent protocols, such as FAIR Signposting. At the level of the centralized aggregation, CORE will enrich the existing US metadata with information from its larger international aggregation. A Dashboard service for participating institutions will be provided, enabling them to assess, validate and monitor their practices.
The one-year project involves 20 repositories representing a variety of institutions, software types and repository models and will result in concrete recommendations and best practice guidelines for machine and human discoverability of research articles in US repositories.
Pilot Participants
- AgEcon (University of Minnesota)
- Berkeley Law Library
- California Digital Library
- California State University San Bernardino
- Case Western Reserve University
- Columbia University Libraries
- Harvard University
- mediArXiv
- Oregon State University
- Princeton University
- Stanford University
- Texas Digital Library
- University of Arizona
- University of Chicago
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Illinois
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Miami
- University of Michigan
- University of North Texas
- University of Texas at Austin
- Washington State University
