EPrints Handbook

EPrints Handbook
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A Guide to Starting Self-Archiving

Before Depositing Your First EPrint
Logging on for the first time and registering as a new user
Adding an EPrint
Keeping your publication record up to date
Metadata
The importance of accurate records
Behind the Scenes
What happens to an EPrint once you have deposited it?
Editing EPrints
Making corrections, adding published versions

A Guide to Self-Archiving and Open Access

Overview and Glossary
The who, what, where, when and why of self-archiving and open access, plus explanations of the importance of research access and impact.
Objections to Self-Archiving
A discussion of some common worries and prejudices that many academics hold about self-archiving.
Achieving Open Access through Self-Archiving
The Road to Open Access, including the roles of the various stakeholders.

Managing an EPrints Service

Installing an EPrints Server

OSI EPrints Handbook Homepage

This handbook is provided by a grant from the Open Society Institute and provides guidance to researchers and their managers who are considering adopting an EPrints server to improve their research impact.

Topics are listed in the navigation panel to the right.

A Guide to Starting Self-Archiving for researchers who understand the issues and are ready to use the software
A Guide to Self-Archiving and Open Access explaining the issues behind open access, and the need for self-archiving and e-print software.
Managing an EPrints Service for research administrators, heads of academic schools or service departments.
Installing an EPrints Server for system administrators.

EPrints servers are designed to help dissemination of research publications by sharing information (metadata) using the latest (OAI) standards.

There are many people who need to be involved with an EPrints server - some as technical managers (who keep the service running on a day-to-day basis), some as research managers (who decide that the service is necessary and useful) and some as researchers (who use the service to disseminate their research and increase their impact).

This manual tries to address all three of these categories of user, but it is most immediately focused on the researcher, the daily user of the archive, and addresses the key tasks they must undertake in order to deposit and maintain their eprints.

This manual also tries to act as an advocate for eprint archiving – the enormous need at the moment is to mobilise the research community so that people are filling archives.

This manual is currently at version 0.91.

Added Managing Service/Import document
Added Solaris version 9 document from Nazar Nercessian

The public version of this manual began at version 0.9.

This manual is made possible by a grant from the Soros Foundation and by helpful contributions from EPrint software developers and EPrint service managers. Comments, corrections or contributions should be addressed to the editor, Dr. Leslie Carr.

Particular thanks to:

Stevan Harnad, Chris Gutteridge, Tim Brody and the rest of the EPrints developers.: for help, insight and understanding
Nazar Nercessian: Solaris Installation instructions
Mike Jelwell: OS X Installation instructions