Writing a repository policy is hard, but some help is at hand with the
OpenDOAR policies tool. On a first glance it looks impressive, and informal comments have been positive.
OpenDOAR examines policies presented as OAI-harvestable
eprints.xsd definitions statements by the sites it assesses for inclusion in its repository directory. It found that over two-thirds of sites have no harvestable or defined policy (
Millington slide presentation). It may be less than that. In a small recent survey of repository preservation policy, which ought to be a consequential subset of wider policy, the Preserv project found that effectively none had a policy in this area (
Hitchcock slide presentation).
OpenDOAR concludes that the eprints.xsd is not working and should be updated or replaced. In fact, eprints.xsd doesn't cover preservation policy at all.
To improve matters OpenDOAR's policy tool allows administrators to produce policy by filling in a series of forms, covering policies for Metadata, Data, Content, Submission and Preservation.
On the front page of the tool users can add the repository name, URL or OAI Base URL to get the tool to retrieve current repository policy (although this didn't appear to work for repositories known to me), if there is one, or leave it blank if you just want to start exploring the tool. Each form offers a series of choices and check-box selections. To make it even easier, there are one-click options to set minimum or optimum recommended options.
When you've finished there are a number of options to save and output the prepared policy, including as html or text. For EPrints repositories there is the additional option of saving the file as Configuration Source Code, although there are some
important instructions on how to do this.
Making policy for repositories also requires wide, top-down consultation on issues such as mandates. The toolkit steers clear of such areas while exemplary
institutional mandate policy is provided by the
Registry of Open Access Repository Material Archiving Policies (ROARMAP), which records institutional policies adopted worldwide.
What remains is the question of testing. Peter Millington, who developed the tool, reports that it was tested within the OpenDOAR team, among SHERPA partner institutions and funders' representatives. The EPrints output "has only been tested for real on Nottingham EPrints, although I have also been corresponding about it with Chris Gutteridge."
"We got two sorts of feedback. Firstly we received comments on the usability of the interface and points relating to the clarity of the wording. We made changes accordingly. Secondly, and rather to our surprise, a few of our testers used the tool in earnest. I suspect that we may make some (hopefully) minor changes to the tool as we gather actual experiences from more people."
How successful this tool is in raising the number of repositories with policy above the one-third level remains to be seen, but OpenDOAR could hardly have done more with this excellently conceived, practical and (nearly) comprehensive tool. Repositories have no excuse not to try it.
