Students and Scholarly Communications | Main | Review: "What's an MLIS Worth?"
November 27, 2007
Ever wondered where institutional repositories are located?
If you've ever wanted to know where in the world institutional repositories are located, look no further than Repository 66 Repository Maps. As of November 27, 844 IRs are represented on a Google maps mashup that includes not only the location but information about specific repositories. When you first visit the site, you'll see a world map with 844 (or more!) colored dots scattered seemingly randomly around the globe.
The full map might be too unwieldy to use effectively, but you can filter it by platform (e.g. DSpace vs. EPrints), registration date range, or repository size. The dot color indicates platform, and you can also change the dots to show the size of the IR. When you hover over a dot, it shows the name of the repository, and then when you click on it, more information pops up. For instance, I clicked on the Vanderbilt University e-Archive dot and learned the type, platform, date registered, size, and description of Vanderbilt's IR. It also allowed me to search the particular IR using Google, Google Scholar, or Microsoft Live. Very cool.
The information comes from ROAR (the Registry of Open Access Repositories) and OpenDOAR (the Directory of Open Access Repositories) and is constantly updated through those sites. More information about the maps and the project is available on the Repository 66 Map Blog. One caveat is that the location isn't always 100% accurate, but it still gives a nice visual picture.
If a visual representation of known IRs is easier for you to use than a list of IR links, I highly recommend checking out this website. It's also a great way to procrastinate...
- Marla Ballou
Posted by colldev at November 27, 2007 11:26 AM