An institutional repository as defined by Clifford Lynch (2003) is “a set of services that a university offers to members of its community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution and its community members.”
Some of the materials that are stored in institutional repositories include faculty research (articles, presentations, data sets, preprints or post prints), student theses and dissertations, teaching materials, institutional administrative records, conference papers and presentations.
The Libraries of the University of the West Indies (UWI) have long been cognizant of the fact that a solution had to be developed for ensuring that the research materials born digitally on the campuses are harnessed, organized, preserved and made accessible. In March 2008, the technical infrastructure for the establishment of the digital repository (based on the DSpace model developed at MIT) was completed at the Alma Jordan Library (formerly the Main Library) on the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies. The repository was branded as UWISpace, and now serves all campuses of the UWI.
The repository service is comprised of Communities – groups that contribute content to UWISpace – and Communities in turn each have Collections, which contain the content items, or files. In this university environment, for example, Communities might be faculties, departments, labs, research centers, schools, or some other administrative unit within the institution. Communities determine their own content guidelines and decide who has access to the community’s contributions
It is envisaged that the UWISpace repository will:
Departments and individuals wishing to deposit their research material in the UWISpace archive can email the administrators, or phone (868) 662 2002, Exts. 84243, 82241, 82215 at The Alma Jordan Library, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.