The OpenUCT repository: underpinning a vision | OpenUCT

"Yesterday, 31 July 2014, saw the official launch of the University of Cape Town’s official repository. It was opened by the VC, Dr Max Price, who ceremoniously cut a ribbon. It was a significant event marking a complex process of collaboration and negotiation between a very wide range of stakeholders across the university, and including technical, policy and advocacy work. But what is it all for? It is just a repository, and unusually beautiful as it is an object (yes!), that is not the reason for all the fuss. The repository is a means to several ends: showcasing; preservation; visibility; discoverability; legally open content; a contribution to learning and a contribution to meaning making and knowledge creation in a globalised world. It cannot be disputed that UCT’s world class scholars have produced impressive and extensive research and teaching resources which should be showcased and deserve a good-looking and easily navigable site which users can browse. Those beyond the university have the right to access and use the scholarship of UCT as a (largely) publically funded university."