The Current State of Open Access Repository Interoperability (2012) :
“In the past few years, Open Access repositories and their associated services have become an increasingly important component of the global e-Research infrastructure. The real value of repositories is their potential to be connected in order to develop a network of repositories which enables unified access to an open, aggregated mass of scholarship and related materials that machines and researchers can work with in new ways.
However, this potential to create a unified body of scholarly materials is entirely reliant on interoperability – specifically, that repositories follow consistent guidelines, protocols, and standards for interoperability which allow them to communicate with each other; connect with other systems; and transfer information, metadata, and digital objects between each other. The repository infrastructure is still relatively new, leading to an evolving interoperability landscape that at first sight may appear chaotic, confusing, and complex.
This report is designed to be the first stage of a multi-phase process aiming to establish the COAR Roadmap for Interoperability. The second phase is planned to be completed with the release of a follow-up report: Future Directions for Interoperability. The follow-up report will address emerging issues and current research & development efforts.”
URL : http://www.coar-repositories.org/files/COAR-The-Current-State-of-Open-Access-Repository-Interoperability.pdf