December 29, 2020
Perspective of Pakistan research repository
By Abid Hussain
https://pakobserver.net/perspective-of-pakistan-research-repository/
AFTER the invention of the World Wide Web (1989), the concept of ‘Open
Repository’ took place earlier in 1990. The first project was introduced for the
Repository of Physics Arxiv in 1991 and can still be viewed on the Web. The purpose
of this project was to showcase the research contribution of scholars in the field of
physics. Different softwares emerged for repository of research works in around the
countries, but of them, few are the most popular which can be used for research
repository free of cost, like Dspace, It is an open access repository software initially
launched in November 2002, this software is highly commendable for presenting
scholarly contents in digital format.
Other popular software are BRICKS (Building Resources for Integrated Cultural
Knowledge Services which is also an open-source software for digital assets. The
other one is Aigaion is a web-based reference management software run by various
institutions for repository purposes. Institutional Repository synonymously is a
digital archive of scholarly works produced by the institutions in multidisciplinary
subjects. Under this project theses, research papers, monographs, conference reports
and similar scholarly contents can be collected, organized, and distributed for
communities and individuals researching at the university level.
Different institutions in Pakistan have initiated these services through indigenous
software for showcasing their research like Libmax, Library Content Manager and so
on. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan had undertaken a project of
Pakistan Research Repository (2006) in order to promote our research in the
international visibility of research organization out of institutes in Pakistan. The
purpose of such a project was to maintain digital archives of all scholarly works
produced by universities in Pakistan at both public and private levels. The website
can be found with URL address http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/. This project was initiated
in March 2006 under the supervision of then chairman Dr. Ataurrahman. Initially few
PhDs theses were uploaded for public access and few people were addressed to visit
the link and quench their research thirst with the help of scientific research.
Around the world, different strategies and infrastructure have been adopted for
scholarly and repository contents in order to showcase their research for scholars in
different continents. Pakistan has adopted a national model approach under the
direction of Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC) named Pakistan Research
Repository (PRR). It is based on centralized management and allows scholars to
access the record of scholarly contents produced at the local level. HEC in
collaboration with universities and research organizations in Pakistan has created this
project in order to grant maximum access to the published research of various
varsities. It is an open-access research repository for teachers, students and staff of
universities in Pakistan.
Many scholars in Pakistan are oblivious and are addressed by their faculties. It is the
moral duties of professors, librarians and researchers to share this website with other
scholars having difficulties in browsing similar literatures. The purpose of this short
insight means to exhibit our research with scholars, who are unfamiliar from Pakistan
Research Repository. HEC’s prime purpose for Pakistan Research Repository (PPR)
was to explore the proposed project envisaged by the HEC and grant access to actual
records being presented, and to critically analyze the prevailing situation and future
scenario about PRR. Apart from this, the project was initiated to perform quantitative
analysis of the present collection of a repository based on subject, institution, type
and year; and to identify measures for improving the performance of PRR.
I may suggest to the higher authority of HEC to also ensure latest theses of Master,
MPhil. Besides these, all conferences reports, monographs and similar scholarly work
may also be exhibited through Research Repository website. The website may be
improved by including different parameters like in google scholar accounts.
Researchers of public and private universities may be granted a login password as
like of Turnitin and should be convinced to publish their articles which are being
contributed to national and international journals. Standard policy for open-access
repositories should also be made available on Pakistan Research Repository Website.
—The writer is working as Library Officer in Institute of Strategic Studies, a thinkthink based in Islamabad.