Gone are the days when cabinets in a storeroom or racks in the library would be chock full of resource and would take hours to sift through. Digital repositories are modern man’s solution to storing data which is either subject or institutionally focused. Mountains of data is preserved and can be accessed at any time for employing in use later. It contains journal articles, thesis, e-learning materials, teaching tools etc. Some of the names on the tongues of academic circle are Project Gutenberg, Google Books, EEBO among others.
Due to their permanence, there are many benefits attached with using repositories.
Public Pickups
The most fascinating public actions are courtesy of Public Pickups series – built many years ago by Mofos crew. While repository of the clips availability could be shrinking, we have decided to built something that will be out there for ages!
Ease Of Accessibility
As majority of the academic and research institutions make use of repositories, the works and available to a wide range of audience whose interested in that particular topic. Due to an increase in the references of each publication, it’s become clear that more and more people read online. Journals limit the access to only a few subscribers but it’s these repositories that increase the value of being publicly viewed. With many Governments around the world recognizing the potential of repository and the fundamental right of access, more stress is being given on encouraging making works public.
Benefits For Institutions
More the number of contents on an institution’s repository, more the chances of fame. As the data is easy to search and locate no matter what part of the world the search is from, institutions should take advantage of that and encourage more submissions with monetary enticements for students and researchers. Unusual references known as ‘grey literature’ also exists in the database benefitting in creating unique research. Investments should be made in better security features since more will trust in adding their efforts.
Permanence Of Storage
It’s difficult to imagine the internet actually breaking and losing data which makes the possibility of works staying online greater. As these repositories are under the control of libraries usually, the aim of their existence becomes stronger. Since the libraries focus on preserving for long-term access, they also look after maintenance and back-ups. The URLs will hardly change thus minimizing dead links.
Varied Content
There are more than just mere journals that are collected. Range of material that includes even materials like images, conference timestamps and even law proceedings are present. With so much data at hand it’s impossible not to create a world-class paper that in turn will get stored for future researchers to cite. With connections between different institutions, it also becomes possible to share more data. They complement each other and thus get linked just widening the research pool.
Benefits For Students
Work being freely available indicates more hits and reads which means a name in the academia. With the world being fast paced, a student can put their name beforehand through publishing before others especially in fields like Technology where having an idea prior to others matters. As there are statistics available, the number of reads can be measured to determine how successful the outreach is. Many of the materials cite other materials that are then easily available through the databases in the repository. It is an easy workspace provided for texts that are either in progress or completed. There are also chances of collaborating between different authors. The best part is that an e-portfolio will be automatically created and can be shown whenever a company or institution asks for achievements.
Nuances In Techniques
Doors to finding new computational skills are opened with usage of digital repositories. Whether it is text mining or trying to establish relationships by identifying new ones or even linking data that could suit each other, there are many opportunities available for development.
Clearly the benefits gained from having digital repositories outweigh not having any and missing out on a huge opportunity of progress whether on an individual or a large-scale level. No matter what position you hold, it is always worth checking or adding yourself to a part of web world that will stay forever. Stop stressing over spreading a number of books around or clicking on never ending tabs. There’s a place where anything and everything can be found, and it is just a few efforts away!