AGBU Papazian Library at AUA to Establish New Institutional Repository

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YEREVAN–The AGBU Papazian Library at the American University of Armenia is developing an institutional repository to preserve and disseminate archival material and academic work conducting in AUA.

To prepare for the transition, the Library organized an  information session on February 22, 2013, inviting Carolyn Runyon, digital collections archivist of the University of Cairo, to present the background and benefits of institutional repositories.

In her lecture, titled “Using Institutional Repositories to Democratize Knowledge,” Runyon presented the value of an institutional repository as both a promotional and a research tool.

An expert on institutional repository management, Runyon will assist AUA’s librarians and tech support team in the development of an institutional repository through a series of trainings and workshops.

During her presentation Runyon explained  the purpose of an institutional repository, describing it as an online locus to digitally disseminate the intellectual output of an institution. The new repository will allow AUA to both preserve archival materials, as well as enhance the university’s research profile. By increasing the availability of scholarly communications, academic work produced at AUA will receive more views, more citations, and more recognition within a global audience.

Additionally, the new institutional repository will serve as an invaluable learning tool that makes information more freely accessible at the university, according to Runyon. In this way, it will benefit AUA students by facilitating timely and effective academic research.

“If every scholarly work were free and searchable to teachers, school children, university students, and brilliant autodidacts, we would be able to use the internet as a true source of learning,” she explained, adding that it is with this hope in mind that AUA plans to create its own institutional repository.

The American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia. Founded in 1991, AUA is affiliated with the University of California. Through teaching, research, and public service, AUA serves Armenia and the region by supplying high-quality, graduate and undergraduate education, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting democratic values.

The AUA is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA 94501, 510-748-9001.