1. Enhancing life-long learning, teaching and research through information resources and services
24 November 2018

2. Simpler, faster and more transparent
Improving repository submission with PubSub
Richard Cross
Resource Discovery and Innovation Team Manager
Nottingham Trent University
IGeLU 2014, Oxford, September 2014
24 November 2018

3. Abstract
For more than five years, Digitool has provided the engine for the institutional repository of Nottingham Trent University: IRep. But beyond the realm of resource discovery, what Digitool has lacked has been the support for any kind of workflow based activities, which can underpin the acceptance, processing and throughput of new submissions to the repository. This session will describe how the library developed ‘PubSub’; a new web application for the university’s academics, metadata librarians and research support librarians, all designed to improve the speed and transparency of repository submissions. PubSub provides integrations with Digitool, CrossRef, SHERPA RoMEO and other web applications to deliver the kinds of rich administrative services absent in Digitool itself.
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4. Digitool at Nottingham Trent University
Institutional Repository – branded as IRep - implemented through a JISC-funded project, launched in 2009
Key collection – Research & Scholarly collection
Support for citation-only and full-text submission
Submission by academics mediated through library
Multi-method submission ( , print-out, publication CV)
Open access policy – only freely accessible full-text objects added
Academic engagement has remained uneven across the university
Levels of full-text submission have remained patchy; responsibility has sat with the library to chase
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5. PubSub is repository agnostic – - could be plugged in to any repository platform which is permeable and lacks workflows and reporting of its own
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6. Development drivers took off in 2013
Questions that the library could not answer – on demand
How long does it take to get something added to IRep?
What material has my School submitted so far this year?
How much content from my School has been added to IRep in full-text?
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7. Faster, easier and more transparent
Associate Deans of Research requested
Simpler, faster submission to IRep
Statistics on academic engagement
Usage statistics on IRep discovery
Led to a new set of shared commitments
Required the library to develop a new service offer, at speed
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8. Commitments The library will…
Sign-up to the new SLAs (service level agreements) for processing submissions
Provide a simplified, single submission method
Produce statistics and report to track engagement and discovery
Academics will…
Improve rates of timely submission
Provide full-text along with citation (wherever possible)
Assume responsibility for copyright and embargo checking
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9. Not using Digitool’s Deposit module
Early testing confirmed that module did not meet requirements
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10. Developed new application
Research active academics (or their proxies)
Librarians (research support advisers; metadata specialists)
Research administrators
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11. PubSub-Digitool workflow
Submission
Meditor
Review
Addition
Synchronisation
IRep
Reporting
Discovery
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12. PubSub in action
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13. Academic submission to PubSub
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18. Librarian view of PubSub
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25. Digitool-PubSub synchronisation
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29. Reporting in PubSub
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33. Digitool access and download counts
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34. New parallel application in development
Extract usage data from Digitool reporting tools
Manipulate, clean-up and populate web accessible database
Generate reports tracking access usage over time
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37. PubSub: reception and next steps
Reception from academics for PubSub generally positive
Confidence in the rigour and utility of tracking and reporting
Simplicity
Speed
Transparency
Technical: raft of new enhancements to roll into the application
Advocacy: more work needed to increase academic confidence in awareness of copyright, embargo and IP issues
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38. Questions and comments?
Simpler, faster and more transparent
Improving repository submission with PubSub
Richard Cross, Resource Discovery and Innovation Manager
Libraries and Learning Resources, Nottingham Trent University
+44(0) |
24 November 2018