The Edges of Institutional Repositories: An Environmental Scan on Student Access Gaps, Creative Works, and Grey Literature | The iJournal: Student Journal of the Faculty of Information

Abstract:  Findings show that while most universities maintain institutional repositories (IR), they are less present in colleges. Additionally, few institutions provide clear, public-facing policies defining who can contribute and what types of content are included. Inconsistent acceptance of student work beyond graduate theses and dissertations, along with inconsistent treatment of creative works like podcasts, zines, and visual art, suggests structural and policy gaps. These gaps shape and influence which contributors and forms of knowledge are recognized and validated as scholarly. For students, this can limit opportunities to develop researcher identity and agentic voice. For all, it highlights how repository practices can reflect and risk reproducing institutional hierarchies of value. Focused attention on the capacity and potential of IRs can strengthen scholarly communications outreach and education. Deliberate policies and practices that actively welcome and incorporate student work and grey literature within IRs can advance equity, open pedagogy, and more inclusive models of knowledge preservation. The decision-making within IRs impacts students, faculty, and the broader information community, with implications across the information sciences, libraries, archives, museums, and knowledge dissemination. This article is about the edges of institutional repositories: what kinds of knowledge are validated, preserved, or marginalized in Canadian IRs, and how this affects students going forward.