Starting an IR from scratch: What’s it like? I had to ask. – LITA Blog

"Within the last year, our institutional repository (IR) work has increased greatly at the University of North Alabama. Over that time, we started an institutional repository with BePress hosting, and hired our first Scholarly Communications Librarian. Our new librarian splits her time and responsibilities with instruction expectations. However, she is the primary contact and sole manager of the IR. I often wondered to myself what her experience was like in her first year. Not only was she starting in a new position at a new university, but she was also establishing an IR from nothing. I decided to sit with our new Scholarly Communications & Instruction Librarian, Jennifer (Jen) Pate, and conduct a mini-interview concerning her experiences. Below is a recap of the questions I asked, her answers, and her thoughts for moving forward. I started by asking Jen, “Prior to starting your position at UNA, what was the extent of your scholarly communications and institutional repository experience?” She told me that her prior experience included predominantly reference and instruction work. This position includes half of its time dedicated to instruction, so that coupled with scholarly communications created an attractive opportunity. As she began preparing an application, then a presentation for her interview, Jen stated “the more I learned about it (scholarly communications work), the more I was fascinated by it.” She cites a driving force for her love of this work as helping students access resources...."