2 - Current research information systems and institutional repositories: From data ingestion to convergence and merger

Abstract

Current research information systems (CRIS) and institutional repositories (IR) were developed as clearly distinguished systems, with different objectives and functionalities, standards and data models, and for different needs and user groups. While academic librarians are often deeply committed to the management of open access and IR, they are less involved and familiar with research evaluation and CRIS. After a period of separate implementation of CRIS and IR, both systems started to converge and even to merge. Today IR often fulfil the requirements of monitoring and assessment of institutional research performance while CRIS, beyond the processing of metadata, begin to store, preserve, and disseminate research papers. This chapter describes and explains the underlying dynamics, with examples to illustrate the benefits, risks, and the potential barriers of this convergence. Special attention is paid to the role of data quality and user acceptance, and to the implications for the academic librarian.