Secrets of Success: Identifying Success Factors in Institutional Repositories

Elizabeth Yakel, UCSD
Soo Young Rieh
Karen Markey
Xingxing Yao

Abstract

There is little agreement on which factors lead to successful institutional repositories. Researchers primarily cite content recruitment and services as key factors; however, there has also been discussion of measuring IR success in terms of how well the IR furthers the overall goals of the library. This paper examines the topic of IRs and success. Our findings are based on a comparative case study of five IRs in colleges and universities. We argue that success should be measured by both internal (e.g., content or services) as well as external factors - how well the IR fulfills or brings the library closer to achieving its long-term goals in terms of service to the academic community.