ScholarSpace and Scholarly
Communication: A Needs
Assessment
Beth Tillinghast
Today’s Presentation
Background setting for the project
Institutional Repositories
Open Access
Repository Recruitment Concerns
Purpose
Methodology
Findings
Conclusions
Background of Project
What is ScholarSpace and what can it do?
Why are Repositories Important?
Strive for more control over scholarly
output
Concern for preservation of digital content
Desire to showcase unique collections of
scholarship
Help support global access to scholarship
through Open Access
Open Access
What is Open Access?
“Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online,
free of charge, and free of most copyright and
licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is
the internet and the consent of the author or
copyright-holder.”
Peter Suber
It very much supports the peer review process!!
Open Access
It represents a shift from traditional
scholarly publishing.
Faster dissemination of work
Greater impact of research
Reduced cost for academic libraries that are
providing access
ARL 2006 Study - Publication Data (Kyrillidou)
The Success of a Repository
“IRs will be successful only if a large
percentage of the institutional community
voluntarily subscribes to the concept of
the repository and routinely participates in
it.”
Blythe and Chachra, 2005
The Success of a Repository
“Content size is one of the most important
factors far assessing the achievement of
self-archiving.”
Probets and Jenkins, 2006
Another study suggests that the success of a
repository will be determined eventually by
“their uptake and use by researchers.”
Shearer, 2003
The Concern
Two-thirds (63%) of ARL libraries regarded
the recruitment of digital content for
the IR as “difficult.”
Bailey, 2006
Reasons ??
-Confusion about IRs
-Uncertainty over copyright
-Doubts about use of scholarship
-Fear of plagiarism
-Myth about low quality of material
-Use of a new technology
What can we do?
How can faculty members be encouraged
to readily deposit their work to
ScholarSpace?
What can the repository developers do to
assist and encourage this process?
What will be the needs of our researchers
who will want to use the repository?
The Purpose
The purpose of this needs assessment was to
understand how best an institutional repository
could meet the research needs of faculty and
researchers at the University of Hawaii at
Manoa.
It will thereby guide the development of the
institutional repository, in terms of both services
and products.
Methodology
Developed survey instrument
Applied for exemption from the
Committee on Human Studies
Formatted survey into online version
Distributed via listservs and web
Findings
Participants
325 usable responses
50/50 Faculty to Graduate Student
Comfort level with new technologies
Use and distribution of research material
36% for students & 44% for researchers
60% favored distribution
35% unsure
An Insightful Comment
“If materials are to be put online, it is hard
to imagine who would NOT use the
resources. If anything, online access has
tremendously broadened the use of
materials by people young and old, and
from K-12 level children to senior citizens.”
Anonymous
Findings …
Access
57% provided no access
24% limited access
8% access
Findings …
Table 1. Purpose in keeping digital files.
Provide long-term preservation of my digital material
Support my teaching and research
Store my digital materials in a centralized site
Support the teaching and research of others
Make it easy for other researchers or students to
my digital materials
Increase the visibility of my research
Enable re-use and re-purpose of my digital content
Maintain and update my materials on a department
website
15 %
14 %
12 %
10 %
9%
8%
8%
7%
Findings …
Percentage of Use
Use of a UHM Repository
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes
Possibly
I don't know Probably not
No
Findings …
Table 2. Factors That Would Encourage the Use of a Repository
I would be interested in depositing my research if I was …
Given more information about the benefits of a repository
Given more information about how a repository could
assist me with scholarly communication
Given more information about copyright & plagiarism
Provided training in the submission process
Given assistance in copyright issues with my work
Provided with assistance in submitting my materials
24 %
18 %
17
15
12
11
%
%
%
%
Findings …
Percentage of Response
In Support of Mandating Research Deposit to IR
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Yes
No
Need more
information
Concerns
Table 3. Concerns About Depositing Work in an Open Access IR
Plagiarism and theft of my work
Materials are a work in progress
Confusion about current copyright laws
IR is not considered professional publishing
A possible loss of files
IR materials will not have citation value and will not
count towards tenure
That I don’t have time to add to my work routine
That a lack of review process will compromise the
quality of digital materials submitted to an IR
That the process will not be easy
18 %
16 %
12 %
9%
9%
8%
7%
7%
7%
Reasons FOR depositing
“Rather than looking at the ‘concerns’ about
depositing digital material, … researchers
should be looking at the reasons for depositing:
foster collaboration, lead to more grants,
develop synergistic relationships, better
recognition for all the good work going
unnoticed at the UH, encourage collegiality,
and sharing of undisclosed research and grey
literature with students and other researchers.”
Anonymous
Conclusions
Develop a marketing plan
Emphasize IR strengths
Stress IR security feature
Provide training
Develop education program
Mahalo
A heartfelt thanks to all of You
and my ETEC ‘Ohana and especially my
advisor, Dr. Fulford!!!
Visit ScholarSpace
https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/
Questions??
betht@hawaii.edu
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