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Purpose - By describing some of the often-ignored aspects of repository advocacy, such as disciplinary differences and how these might affect the adoption of a particular institutional repository, this paper aims to offer practical guidance to repository managers and those responsible for open access and repository policy. Design/methodology/approach - The argument uses examples from an empirical study of 43 in-depth interviews of academic staff in three disciplines, Chemistry, Computer Science and Sociology, at two Australian universities. The interviewees discussed their interaction with the literature as an author, a reader and a reviewer. Findings - The study finds that disciplines are markedly different from one another, in terms of their subject matter, the speed of publication, information-seeking behaviour and social norms. These all have bearing on the likelihood a given group will adopt deposit into an institutional repository as part of their regular work practice. Practical implications - It is important to decide the purpose of the institutional repository before embarking on an advocacy program. By mapping empirical findings against both diffusion of innovations theory and writings on disciplinary differences, this paper shows that repository advocacy addressing the university academic population as a single unit is unlikely to be successful. Rather, advocacy and implementation of a repository must consider the information seeking behaviour and social norms of each discipline in question. Originality/value - The consideration of disciplinary differences in relation to repository advocacy has only begun to be explored in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the development of FOSTER, its anticipated use and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - This paper reports on the RUBRIC project and the development of FOSTER. Findings - The FOSTER toolkit is not a static resource, and accordingly may never reach a fully `completed" state. As the area of institutional repositories continues to develop, and further generations of appropriate solutions emerge, the FOSTER concept and later, Toolkit, will also continue to develop. Originality/value - Provides a useful discussion on the development of FOSTER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight how application integration and project collaboration is being used to support the development of newly established university electronic presses and institutional repositories. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a summary of a number of projects that have been established within the Australian university environment. These projects are used to illustrate models of collaboration that can be used to assist the establishment of small or new scholarly publishing projects. Findings – Suggests that in instances where universities are exploring new models for dissemination of their scholarship, collaboration between institutional projects may assist in the ongoing development of content and in the provision of access to this content. Originality/value – This is a reflection based on current projects being developed within Australia. It provides an overview of projects that illustrate cooperative development as a means to assist in access to scholarship produced from Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the adoption of the open source library management system, Koha, amongst Australian special libraries. Design/methodology/approach - The spread of Koha in Australian special libraries and the opinions of Koha users on the system have been examined by a survey distributed to all known Australian Koha users. A case study of the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS) library network is also presented, demonstrating many of the practical issues involved in the decision to convert to an open source system. Findings - The main reasons given for conversion to Koha were practical economic grounds, coupled with dissatisfaction with conventional library systems. Libraries found the conversion to Koha reasonably trouble-free. Satisfaction ratings on most aspects of Koha performance were "above average" to "good". Library expectations of value for money and overall cost savings appear to have been realised. Research limitations/implications - The sample of responding libraries (46.67 per cent of all Koha libraries found) included hosted and non-hosted installations, and a representative mix of health and non-health libraries, including three from the tertiary sector. Results were consistent across all groups. Many Koha installations have commenced operation since 2008, and a more comprehensive survey should be undertaken in the future, when the long-term effects of open source adoption are more evident. Practical implications - Koha has proved well suited to small health libraries, and the GWAHS experience has been successfully replicated amongst many other Australian special libraries. Social implications - The switch to open source has enabled many libraries to greatly enhance services to remote users. Financial restrictions which prevented many libraries establishing a web presence have been overcome by open source, resulting in greatly increased contact with library clients Originality/value - Results of the first survey of Australian Koha users are presented. A case study of the first Australian health library network installation of Koha is also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]