Repositories

Increasingly resources to support learning and business processes in institutions are in a digital format. From learning and teaching resources to financial and other administrative data, an efficient and secure way of managing this content is needed. A repository can be described as a service where people can deposit their content (teaching, research or administrative), add metadata (often referred to as data about data) which, importantly, makes the content searchable by other people. In simplest terms, a digital repository is where digital content is stored, searched and retrieved for use later.

Through the JISC Digital Repositories programme which ends in 2007, a number of JISC funded projects have focused on the development of systems to encourage the sharing of digital resources.

Jorum is a free online repository service for teaching and support staff in UK Further and Higher Education Institutions, helping to build a community for the sharing, reuse and repurposing of learning and teaching materials. Don't be put off by the registration process, your learning resources staff should be able to give you help and advice about accessing the materials and contributing to the repository.

This work continues under the Repositories and Preservation programme. This programme is a £14m investment in Higher Education repository and digital content infrastructure. It will fund initiatives to develop the Information Environment supporting digital repositories and preservation, including cross-searching facilities across repositories; funding for institutions to develop a critical mass of content, preservation solutions and advice for the development of repositories.

Scottish Developments

COLEG now has a Repository for Scotland's Colleges and all COLEG resources are available from it. As well as COLEG open learning packs, the repository holds material from a wide range of projects, including BlendEd and the COLEG instructional design project. Member colleges can also upload and share their materials within the repository. COLEG Repository find out more.....