Working towards the invisible repository

Abstract

The University of York has been developing a Digital Library with Fedora Commons since 2008. This paper will cover two guiding principles for York Digital Library and discuss how those have led us to delivering hybrid repository services. The first guiding principle is around building a hybrid repository that can handle a wide range of data types and can manage fully restricted, partially restricted and full open access content. The second principle is around providing multiple access points to resources, both locally and where the user is by providing contextualised access interfaces and integration points. The paper will talk about where we are now and about some of the steps we neeed to make to become a central, sustainable service for the long term. At heart, this paper is a rallying cry for repositories to look beyond the repository itself towards repository services.