Repositories, research and reporting: the conflict between institutional and disciplinary needs

Abstract

In Australia, research reporting is considered a way to increase awareness of and support for opening up accessibility to research outputs. This paper explores the fundamental differences between disciplines, which extend beyond publishing outputs. Most crucially, the information-seeking behaviour of a disciplinary cohort will determine the likelihood of individuals voluntarily embracing repositories. There is an inherent conflict between the needs of the institution and those of academics’ ‘invisible colleges’, as institutional repositories exist to serve the institution and funding bodies, rather than the individual.