Project Planning

Typical Key Steps | Targets | Deliverables | Timescales | References

Typical key steps

Setting up a repository is a project that needs to observe certain key steps: set targets; achieve certain deliverables and meet specific timescales.

According to SHERPA, 'In the short term, the costs of setting up OA repositories are minimal. Universities already have a good IT infrastructure in place [and] the connection cost and use of repositories is absorbed within existing overheads, so accessing the material is effectively free.' Whilst propriety software solutions are available for purchase, quality software needed to set up an IR can be downloaded for free from the internet.

Targets

Targets for setting up a new repository include identifying what is needed and what policies the repository will have. Therefore issues to be considered include:

Content type (what will the repository include - post-prints, technical papers, conference papers etc)
Choice of metadata type
Implementation of software and technical requirements
Interface design
Quality control and archiving policies
Copyright
Advocacy strategies

These targets lead to certain deliverables which will be specific to the institution's repository. Generally, "deliverables" are defined as information that teams need to write down and communicate to others to reflect decisions about aspects of the project; plans for work that needs to take place; and guiding specifications. For a new repository these deliverables will include an expansion of the above targets once these have been decided, within a specific timeframe.

An example of a time and action plan can be found on the Guide To Creating A Communication Plan part of the Partnering on Copyright report. Examples on advocacy strategies can be found under Launching Repositories and the Expanding Content section.

Deliverables

Evaluating the project is the only way to identify what has worked and what has not in terms of the project of setting up the repository but also in terms of its future development. The effectiveness of the project can be measured by obtaining feedback from the key stakeholder groups, for example academics and senior managers, but also by sharing good practice with other repository managers and administrators to ensure that a healthy review of policies is carried regularly.

Timescales

[Information to follow.]

References

Digital Preservation Europe (DPE) (2008). Repository Planning Checklist and Guidance: PLATTER. http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/platter/. Accessed 3rd February 2009.

DPE have devised PLATTER- Planning Tool for Trusted Electronic Repositories, which provides a basis for a digital repository to plan the development of its goals, objectives and performance targets over the course of its lifetime. The focus of the tool is on the process by which the repository organization sets and manages its objectives and is designed to complement existing audit and certification tools.