Fwd: [SPARC-IR] irplus - Institutional Repository Software

From: Leslie Carr <lac_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 13:23:35 +0000

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If you're not on the SPARC IR list you won't have seen the IRPlus
announcement from U Rochester. I sent the following in response to
it. The subtext of my message is
(a) IRPlus isn't doing aything new.
(b) IRPlus is a bit limited - but what do you expect if you take the
advice of 25 postgrads?
(c) Did you make IRPlus because DSpace is crap?

--
les
Begin forwarded message:
      From: Leslie Carr <lac_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: 4 March 2009 13:11:41 GMT
To: "SPARC Institutional Repositories Discussion List"
<SPARC-IR_at_arl.org>
Subject: Re:[SPARC-IR] irplus - Institutional Repository
Software
On 4 Mar 2009, at 12:25, Sarr, Nathan wrote:
      The University of Rochester is pleased to announce
      the alpha version of its new institutional
      repository software platform named irplus.  It
      contains the following features:
This is an interesting new development, so II hope it is
alright to ask a couple of questions on the list
(a) How would you characterise IRPlus? It looks like DSpace +
GoogleDocs + BibApp. Is that fair?
(b) In your report you say that "IRs may succeed is if they
provide a better technology to meet users? real needs in clear
and immediate ways", and the whole of the IRPlus development is
described in the context of satisfying user needs. This seems
to be a very good thing and should be much applauded! However,
you produced IRPlus as a result of interviews with 25 graduate
students, so is IRPlus just aimed at that specific kind of
stakeholder? Or do you think it is also useful as a
broad-spectrum Institutional Repository?
(c)  In the abstract to your report you said "We conducted user
research ... to support development of a suite of authoring
tools to be integrated into an institutional repository", and
yet the outcome is a new IR platform. What was the rationale
behind that shift? Was it to do with control of the software
development processes? Was it that owning your own platform
increase your ability to innovate?
--
Les Carr

Received on Wed Mar 04 2009 - 13:23:43 GMT