Both Sides Now: Interrogating the Value of Institutional Repositories

Thad Cochran Center 218

Free, public access to knowledge. Increased visibility and impact of student and faculty work. The value of institutional repositories is clear to their advocates, but is it compelling to those who lead academic libraries? Or to college and university administrators? Library leaders, even those who believe in repositories’ value, must weigh the service against competing priorities for the library and the broader institution. Drawing on time spent on both sides, first as a scholarly communication librarian and now a library dean, I will propose a framing of repositories’ value that is responsive to challenges facing higher education and that addresses library and university administrators’ focus on their institution’s mission and viability.