Repository Success at the University of Minnesota

[Jennifer McLennan <jennifer@arl.org>]

For immediate release
June 14, 2007

For more information:
Jennifer McLennan
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121

REPOSITORY SUCCESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
New SPARC partnership points to the exemplary subject-specific 
model
behind AgEcon Search

Washington, DC - June 14, 2007 - SPARC has aligned with AgEcon 
Search: Research in Agricultural and Applied Economics, a free 
Web-based repository at the University of Minnesota that 
collects, indexes, and electronically distributes full-text 
copies of scholarly research. This SPARC Scientific Communities 
partnership recognizes how the creators of AgEcon Search have 
developed a model subject-specific repository that is innovative, 
collaborative, and successful as a focal resource for studies in 
the field.

The AgEcon Search (http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/) collection 
includes current and archival working papers, journal articles, 
and conference papers that focus on agricultural economics and 
sub-disciplines such as agribusiness, food supply, natural 
resource economics, environmental economics, policy issues, 
agricultural trade, and economic development. The project is a 
collaboration of the University of Minnesota Libraries, the 
university Department of Applied Economics, and the American 
Agricultural Economics Association. Special projects have been 
funded by grants from the Farm Foundation, the USDA Economics 
Research Service, the American Agricultural Economics Association 
Foundation, and the National Agricultural Library.

Although launched 10 years ago as a repository for current 
working papers, AgEcon Search now includes 13 journals - and that 
number will grow in the coming year. Journal participants are 
diverse. Some are e- only journals that have their own Web sites 
but are part of AgEcon Search because it enhances their 
visibility and use. Others are print journals for which AgEcon 
Search serves as the only electronic distribution channel. A few 
have undertaken digitization projects and have contributed 
material back to the 1950s. AgEcon Search will serve as the 
permanent archive for this literature and encourages authors and 
organizations to use the electronic library as the storehouse for 
additional appropriate scholarly electronic works.

The project operates as what economists refer to as a distributed 
network. The leading partners - the University Libraries and 
Department of Applied Economics - contribute staff time, 
equipment, and funds for student support. Content contributors 
take on the work of preparing each paper, completing the 
submission form, and delivering the manuscripts to AgEcon Search 
- thus minimizing what needs to be done centrally. If a group 
chooses, they may pay (on a cost-recovery basis) to have their 
accumulated resources incorporated. To ensure the quality of the 
research in the collection, an organized scholarly community such 
as a society, association, university department, or organization 
must sponsor the work submitted, and each group has a peer review 
process in place for contributions.

Ten years since its launch, AgEcon Search has become an important 
tool for academe and industry. The collection contains over 
24,000 papers from 140 institutions and professional 
associations, and over 1.25 million downloads have been recorded 
since 2001.

"From the outset, this project has been a partnership of the 
library, the academic department, and the association," noted 
University Librarian Wendy Lougee. "We have worked hand-in-hand 
to design a resource that would serve the discipline effectively. 
The Department of Applied Economics has been an invaluable 
partner and it is due in large part to their involvement that the 
project has achieved such success. It is our hope that libraries 
will help other disciplines to adopt the model of collecting and 
electronically archiving literature from a discipline that might 
otherwise be difficult to access."

"SPARC is pleased to help raise the profile of a repository 
initiative that has drawn its success from cross-campus and 
society collaboration," said SPARC Director Heather Joseph. "The 
founders of AgEcon Search have demonstrated that researcher 
involvement is key, and that focusing on the unique needs of a 
specific discipline can help not only to overcome the hurdles 
involved in growing a repository, but to create a new hub for the 
free and open study of a specific topic."

AgEcon Search completed a successful migration to the DSpace 
software in April, and has become part of the University's 
Digital Conservancy that is hosted by the University Libraries.

For more information about AgEcon Search, contact 
aesearch@umn.edu.

For more information, visit the SPARC Web site at 
http://www.arl.org/ sparc.

###

SPARC
SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), 
with SPARC Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance 
of more than 800 academic and research libraries working to 
create a more open system of scholarly communication. SPARC's 
advocacy, educational, and publisher partnership programs 
encourage expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web 
at http://www.arl.org/sparc.

-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Communications
SPARC
jennifer@arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
www.arl.org/sparc