Institutional Digital Repositories for Science and Technology: A View from the Laboratory

Institutions across the United States are actively creating institutional repositories (IRs) and an array of field-specific online collections, especially in the biological sciences. The 20 earth and biological scientists interviewed for this article embrace online resources for use in their research, teaching, and creative activities and, although previously unaware of the functions of an IR, unanimously support the development of one at the University of Oklahoma. The ability to share scholarly information across campus and to securely archive data are seen as valuable attributes of an IR. Despite their endorsement, participants have little interest in spending time and effort in creating an IR beyond voluntarily submitting their published works.