What is the Shared Repository?

The Shared Repository is a repository for use by New Zealand organisations in need of a place to store predominantly open-access research outputs so that they can be made freely available to the public.

The Repository holds both content objects and metadata about them. It is hosted by DigitalNZ for the Ministry of Research, Science & Technology.

Who can deposit material in the Shared Repository?

The repository is available primarily to Crown Research Institutes, government departments and other organisations who hold research material.

Institutions must contact the Research Repository Co-ordinator to indicate an interest in participating.

Within these institutions, staff can be assigned as ‘Institutional Managers’ or ‘Depositers’ (who can deposit, edit and view content). Only the Institutional Manager can make material available publicly.

Who can access research in the Shared Repository?

Within the Shared Repository system Institutional Managers can see all material from their institution (but not other participating institutions). Users with ‘depositor’ status can only see material they themselves have deposited.

Institutional Managers can assign three levels of access to material: Open Access, Restricted Access, and Closed Access.

• Open Access: Content and metadata is openly accessible on the public internet for use within rights and license restrictions
• Restricted Access: Only metadata is available via internet and people must log in to the repository to access the content (so therefore must have access privileges as determined by the owning institution)
• Closed Access: Like restricted access (i.e. Metadata available via internet) only more tightly restricted. Content is likely to be closed to everyone except a select few people within the owning institution.

What can and can’t be deposited?

The Shared Repository holds both content objects and metadata about them.

Publications, objects, or collections deposited in the Shared Repository must be research oriented.

Both peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed research outputs are accepted, of both published or unpublished status. Primary research sources are also accepted.

Examples of relevant content include:

• Journal articles – preprint (i.e. before refereeing and publication version) or postprint (refereed)
• Newspaper/magazine articles containing research outputs
• Manuals or documentation (if of a research nature)
• Research papers/reports
• Working papers
• Technical reports
• Conference papers or posters
• Case studies
• Books
• Book chapters
• Theses and dissertations
• Small-sized datasets
• Images used for research
• Multimedia objects
• Rich media
• Lectures

If you have additional content types you think are relevant for making available in the Shared Repository please feel free to discuss them with the Research Repository Co-ordinator.

What are the benefits for including research in the Shared Repository?

Benefits are numerous and include:

• Central secure store for research
• Increased exposure of research
• Maximised impact of research
• Opportunity to contribute to discovery services (such as DigitalNZ or potentially the Kiwi Research Information Service)
• Meet PBRF requirements and open government legislation

How much does it cost to participate in the Shared Repository (e.g. set up and ongoing annual fee/subscription)?

The Shared Repository is available at no cost to you or your institution. The National Library has no immediate plans to recover costs for this service but reserves the right to introduce costing models at a later date should ongoing funding for the service be required. You will be notified by email if a costing model is being considered and may choose to discontinue your use of the Shared Repository.

What about copyright?

When you deposit a copy of a research output into the Shared Repository you are in most cases creating a new ‘copy’ of that item.

This means that you need to have copyright or a copyright licence to place it in the repository, unless the item is out of copyright.

There may be some exemptions if access to the item is restricted to particular authenticated users (for example, Closed Access for education use).

If the research output is published, check the publishing contract to see what copies are and aren’t allowed.

Copyright ownership does not change hands when you place material in the repository and so will continue to be retained either by the author/s or the publisher. We are not asking or encouraging you to transfer copyright to the repository.

What is the relationship between the Shared Repository, DigitalNZ, and KRIS?

Much of the content in the Shared Repository will be available through DigitalNZ. Currently the scope of KRIS, the Kiwi Research Information Service is primarily focused on peer-reviewed research outputs. However, selected content from the Shared Repository may also be made accessible through KRIS as well as DigitalNZ.

What software does the Shared Repository use?

The deposit service aspect of the Shared Repository is built using Fedora and Muradora software.

The discovery aspect of the service uses Digital New Zealand harvesting technology and APIs.

The DigitalNZ system is in 3 parts: a backend, a metadata store and a front end. The backend harvester is written in Java. The metadata store is in a MySQL database, using Solr to power the search. The front end, including the API, the website, search, the widgets and so on, are in Ruby on Rails.

What is the future looking like for the Shared Repository?

The National Library of New Zealand has been contracted by the Ministry of Research, Science & Technology to develop the Shared Repository and support the repository for an initial period of three years (until June 2012).

DigitalNZ manages the development, ongoing enhancements and technical support for the repository and will make contents of the repository available to the public using DigitalNZ search tools.

The initial release of the Shared Repository is deliberately simple. Enhancements will be made to the Shared Repository in response to feedback from users. Please feel free to suggest enhancements via info@digitalnz.org.

What kind of support is available to me as a user of the Shared Repository?

A dedicated Research Repository Co-ordinator is available to support you in your use of the Shared Repository system – including training on how to use the system and troubleshooting.

How do I begin?

Review the terms of use for the Shared Repository then get in touch via info@digitalnz.org. We’ll brief you on the repository and sign you up so that you can get started.

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