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| 01-26-2005 | Previous edition: 01-25-2005 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Repositories enhance researching processBy Kristen SutherlandStaff Writer Soon Purdue students may be able to access their syllabuses, dissertations and any other research materials they may need while they sit in their pajamas. Information Technology at Purdue and the University’s libraries have been working together to bring the latest technological developments to Purdue’s libraries, specifically digital repositories. Digital repositories provide a way for written products to be stored digitally, said James Mullins, dean of libraries. The program for these repositories began several years ago at MIT and was entitled "D-Space." MIT paired with Hewlett Packard and invited faculty members to "create a community within the program," said Mullins. "This meant that faculty could make anything they wanted available digitally. This was especially helpful in finding gray literature, which is more difficult to obtain because it is typically outside of the usual journals and books." "Institutional repositories are an ideal way to capture, preserve and disseminate the intellectual output of a university," said a press release for ProQuest Information and Learning, a company that recently developed its own digital repository. By making information accessible through a digital repository, Mullins said he hopes to preserve and maintain written works so that they are not lost. "There is a great need to ensure that all of our information will be available in the future and will still be readable in 100 years," he said. Although Mullins admitted that the program would be expensive, he said it would be worth it in the end. Keeping up to date on printed journals costs the libraries $500,000 a year, with prices increasing steadily. In creating a digital repository, the first step for ItaP and Purdue’s libraries will be to work with document items that are not copyright controlled, and then to begin cataloguing massive data sets. With this alternative to the present model of published documents, we can change the speed of research and learning," said Mullins. "Before, it wasn’t easy for people to find data reported in research findings. Now this will speed up (the process)." Printer-friendly version |
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