Digital repositories: All hype and no substance?
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Date
2005-05-29
Authors
Swanepoel, Marinus
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL)
Abstract
The development of digital repositories has been a recent one, starting in late 2000 when the UK's University of Southampton released a software package called E-Prints. Since that time, the establishment of digital repositories has gained momentum. Factors such as the falling costs for online storage, the increase of broadband and gigabit networking technologies, as well as the development of metadata standards to describe repository content, have all contributed to their current popularity. Questions to be asked are: to what extent are digital repositories, as a method for communicating scientific and scholarly information, accepted or are they just hype?; how mature are institutional repositories as a technology?; and, to what extent are institutional repositories used by faculty and researchers?
The Gartner Hype Curve is a tool introduced by the Gartner Group in the 1990’s to explain general phenomena of interest in new technologies. This framework plots the typical progression of a technology from its early introduction through its maturation to broad market acceptance. The first question is answered by an investigation into the status of digital repositories in the context of the Gartner Hype Curve. The second question is answered by plotting institutional repositories on the product life cycle (Sigmoid Curve) and the third question is answered by applying the Diffusion of Innovation Theory to institutional repositories.
Description
A presentation at the 26th IATUL Conference, 29 May - 2 June 2005.
Conference theme: Information and Innovation
Université Laval Library, Québec City, Canada.
Keywords
Digital repositories, scholarly communication, Gartner Hype Curve, Product Life Cycle, Diffusion of Innovation Theory