The Institutional Repository: The Chinese University of Hong Kong ‘SIR’ Model

Abstract

To be in line with The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) mission of assisting in the preservation, creation, application and dissemination of knowledge, the CUHK online institutional repository, known as the ‘SIR’ (Scholarly Information Repository), is designed to serve the University community and its constituent four Colleges, the people of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and China, and academics and researchers in the wider world. This paper reviews the planning and implementation of the CUHK SIR model. Discussions on what materials needed to be included in the SIR database are highlighted – for example, not only preprints, published articles, theses and dissertations, but also University and College publications, audio and video clips, etc. The paper details certain system design parameters – it runs on DSpace, and a simple interface is available for faculty to submit citations of their publications and other documents for digitization and inclusion. Finally, the challenges facing the future growth and use of the SIR are noted – not least in securing both the intellectual property rights and the financial and human resources to sustain and develop a major online initiative of this kind.