IFLA has signed a contract with ECS Partners Limited for the building and hosting of its new repository using EPrints Services.
The repository will be publicly launched during 2013 with contents including all 2013 World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) papers, existing IFLA standards, and a selection of advocacy documents. In time, freely-available full-text resources and links to restricted content for all IFLA resources will be uploaded and the contents will be developed and increased, in particular with new resources for each subsequent WLIC.
The selection of EPrints Services follows a study carried by a working group of the IFLA Governing Board, led by Genevieve Clavel-Merrin, under the aegis of the IFLA Key Initiative 1 (Digital Content). A number of options were investigated and demonstrated, with EPrints Services being found to offer the closest match to IFLA’s defined needs. The recommendation was approved by IFLA’s Governing Board in December 2012.
With the signing of the contracts, IFLA HQ staff are working with EPrints Services staff to build the repository and upload the initial contents. It is hoped that public access can be announced before the 2013 WLIC in Singapore with full functionality ready by the end of the year. In future years, it is hoped that distributed uploading will be possible and that the professional units will help to develop the content with the addition of their resources.
Source: IFLA
