While commenting on the forthcoming JISC briefing paper œManagement of e-learning resources: why repositories can help, authored by Andrew Rothery of University of Worcester, we got drawn into a slightly tangential discussion about issues relating to different types of resources, primarily scholarly works and teaching and learning materials, which may be accommodated by institutional repositories. At the time I volunteered to collate our comments so here, rather belatedly, is a synthesis of the points raised in that discussion by Neil Jacobs (JISC), Phil Barker (CETIS), Andrew Rothery (Worcester) and I.
I should add that Im not an expert in issues relating to scholarly works so Im sure Ive oversimplified some very complex points. In addition I know next to nothing about significant issues relating to research data. I suspect research data may be more akin to teaching materials than scholarly works but I could be quite wrong. If anyone from the eresearch domain could comment Id be very grateful.
I should also add that this is just a starting point for further discussion rather than a definitive list of issues.
Scholarly works generally are generally documents designed for reading and printing. Learning materials and research data are likely to encompass multiple formats and may facilitate wide range of interactions.
Scholarly works tend to be discrete entities and may have a clear version history (preprint, publication, postprint). Many different versions of an individual learning resource may exist, particularly if that resource is stored in a VLE. Different versions may be used for different courses, resources may be updated from year to year.
The audience for scholarly works is generally other academic staff and researchers. The audience for teaching and learning materials is students in addition to other academic staff.
Reuse and Citation
Reuse of scholarly works is common within agreed parameters. Papers may be referenced, quoted and cited. Reuse of learning materials is much more haphazard and there is no agreed framework for reuse. Practitioners are often unsure if they can reuse or repurpose an existing learning resource.
Incentives and Motivation Publication
Authors are usually motivated to publish scholarly works and there are clear incentives for them to do so e.g. the RAE, academic reputation, peer standing. There are few if any incentives for academics to publish their teaching materials and many may be extremely reticent to do so.
(Note: What does publish really mean in this context?)
Scholarly works are subject to peer review or some other form of quality assessment. Teaching materials are not usually peer reviewed although some learning objects repositories such as merlot do provide a peer review facility. There is some debate as to the validity of peer reviewing discrete chunks of learning materials that may be used in many different contexts. Teachers are generally more interested in knowing how a resource has been used and by whom rather than whether it has been peer reviewed.
There are clear arguments and considerable advocacy for open access to scholarly publications, however the case for open access to teaching and learning materials (and research data ?) is less well developed.
Uptake and Engagement
It seems to be easier to encourage academic staff to contribute to and use repositories of scholarly works rather than teaching and learning materials.
Retention, Preservation and Archiving
There is little awareness of issues relating to the retention, preservation and archiving of teaching and learning materials. An extreme example of this lack of awareness is the argument that there is no valid reason for retaining any teaching and learning materials. There is much greater awareness and understanding of the need to preserve and archive scholarly works.
There are quite different workflows associated with the creation, publication and deposit of scholarly works and teaching and learning materials. Repositories must address and accommodate these different workflows.
Although it may be possible to identify some common metadata elements the characteristics of teaching and learning materials requiring description to facilitate resource discovery and selection are different from those of scholarly works. Different metadata schemes or strategies must be developed accordingly.
IPR and Copyright
Academic staff tend to have greater awareness of IPR and copyright restrictions relating to scholarly works than teaching and learning materials.
All institutional resources, including scholarly works, research data and teaching and learning materials require appropriate management policies and strategies.