How to run a repository: Open documentation of 15 years' experience

摘要

To better coordinate a repository ecosystem of over 20 individual systems and synthesise decades of staff knowledge and expertise, a team at the Cornell University Library created an open manual of repository principles and strategies to support both new and existing repository managers. This case study will document the process of creating this manual, describing the identification of strategic areas of repository management; the composition and revision of manual sections in conjunction with experts throughout the library system; the development of both best practices and action steps for implementing them; and the publication of the manual in both an open wiki and an open access repository under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 licence to facilitate use, feedback and further revision. As the manual itself is intended to fill a gap in the existing repository manual toolset and engender a larger conversation about repository management practices, this case study can serve as the basis for a similar conversation about the openly shared documentation of those practices.