Building institutional repository: an overview

Abstract

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to describe how the ISRO HQ Institutional Repository (IR) idea emerged and what are the steps taken to implement and build the IR. The scope of the repository, which started with newspaper clippings, has been enhanced to accommodate research papers, speeches/lectures, office orders/memorandums, videos, annual reports and the in‐house publications.Design/methodology/approachA comparative study of the available open source digital library software is made taking into consideration the availability of technical support, possibility of hands on training and the resources available for implementing the IR. Logical approach is made in building different communities, collections and decisions are taken in sharing the responsibility of maintaining different collections.FindingsThe paper provides evidence on how the ISRO HQ IR was built from scratch and how different collections with numerous forms and formats can be accommodated using DSpace software. Many problems were faced during customisation of metadata forms for different collections apart from Dublin Core metadata fields. DSpace allows workflow and customisation as per institutional requirements. It supports community/collection based content and submission by different user communities.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is a case study and limited only to ISRO HQ and describes the steps taken in implementing the IR considering the availability of technological infrastructure, manpower and possible collaboration of library with different sections/divisions at ISRO HQ.Originality/valueThis paper helps in planning to build an IR. The paper also helps the beginners in getting an idea of how different file formats can be used for different collections in order to maintain uniformity.