Re: [EP-underground] EPrints Handbook

Chris,
sounds like an excellent idea. Some things you might want to deal with,
based on my own experience establishing an archive here at NUI
Maynooth:

* A summary of the techncial issues in "manager-speak". One thing I've
noticed is that management don't realy seem aware of what's invloved
(technically) in setting up an archive, how it works, or how long it
takes. It might be worth giving some kind of summary of these issues,
at least so managers will have some idea of who to hire, how to
schedule the project, etc.

* Copyright. This is one of the most common issues I've been asked
about. I know Prof Harnad has written some comebacks for this one, but
some more information/reassurance might be useful:) This definetely
strikes me as one of the trickier issues involved.

* Getting people to use the damn thing:) As you say, this is the main
obstacle to setting up an archive. One thing that has struck me is the
lack of concrete backup for all the vague assurances I've been handing
out about increased exposure, readership, etc. The OAI is a great idea,
but in practical terms, what good is it currently doing? I know that
might seem a bit cynical, but other than the experimental ARC service,
I haven't really seen any examples of the 'value-added' aspect of the
OAI. I'm well aware the system is in an embryonic stage, but that's not
going to be much use when persuading hard-pressed academics to submit
their papers. Fortunately no one has actually raised this question yet,
but when they do, I'm not sure what I'll be able to say.
It might be worth devoting some space in the handbook to this topic, as
the OAI would appear to be one of the main selling points of the
archive system as a whole.

* Maintenance + support. I know this is verging on a technical issue,
but another question that pops up pretty often is the issue of support
- how much work is it going to take to keep the thing going? -
inlcuding both technical and editorial work, etc. Some kind of general
discussion of the issues involved could be useful.

That's all I can think of offhand.
Cheers,

David Cahill
NUI Maynooth Library.



--- ePrints Support <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi, We've been given some funding for a colleague of mine to write
> some more (better?!) documentation for eprints.
> 
> The provisional plan is to aim this at the project manager and leave
> me doing the technical documentation still.
> 
> I think there is a real need for a guide to setting up an
> institutional
> archive as there are so many recurring (non technical) issues and
> problems 
> which we've encountered - policy, metadata decisions, getting people
> to fill 
> the damn data etc.
> 
> I think it would be most useful if it has an eprints bias, but deals
> with
> the general process of setting up an archive (eprints or otherwise).
> 
> So what I'm asking is for suggestions and comments really. This would
> in effect be the "eprints-underground" manual, rather than the
> current
> one which could be considered the "eprints-tech" documentation.
> 
> -chris
> 
> -- 
> 
>  Christopher Gutteridge                  
> [email protected]
>  ePrints2 Coder, Support and Stuff        +44 23 8059 4833
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Everything you'll ever need on one web page
from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
http://uk.my.yahoo.com