Managing a Sustainable Institutional Repository: The Covenant University Experience

Abstract

The paper examined the ubiquitous nature of digital institutional repositories and their concomitant capabilities. It specifically show-cased the robust process and technical details involved in the development and sustenance of Covenant University Institutional Repository which has consistently ranked number one repository in Nigeria based on webometric rankings. Relying on Strajda Process Management model, Covenant University adopted two open source software- Dspace and E-print based on adjudged robustness of the metadata, relative easy to setup as well as amenable to customization. The paper recommended among others, the sensitization of researchers on the dangers of ceding copyright to Journal publishers as the practice divests them of inherent rights and may preclude deposition of their works on the Institutional repository thereby undermining growth of content and visibility of research outputs. It further recommended backup systems that forestall intrusion and mitigate effect of potential disasters on sustainability of Institutional Repository.