Institutional Repositories of Academic and Research Institutes In Maharashtra an Evaluative Study

Abstract

Information plays a vital role in all fields. In today s information technology era, the environment of academic and research libraries has drastically changed. On the other hand, the information-seeking behavior of people throughout the world is changing simultaneously. Institutional repositories (IRs) are digital collections of scholarly outputs produced by institutions that act as useful platforms for archiving, preserving, and sharing academic and research materials. They also play a significant role in open-access initiatives and scholarly communication. Institutional Repository (IR) stimulates the scholarly communication movement, boosts visibility worldwide, and facilitates knowledge gain. The IR attracts the attention of institutes, researchers, professors, and students from all over the world. Institutes should establish IR to preserve intellectual output, provide access to informative databases, and contribute to the world open access movement, attracting global attention and attracting researchers, professors, and students. The Indian government is fostering an open access culture through initiatives like Shodhganga (a digital repository of Indian theses and dissertations submitted to universities in India), 17 IRs hosted at Science Central, and the National Virtual Library of India. The UGC, CSIR, and NKC of India are promoting open access and supporting infrastructure development in academic and research institutes to ensure sustainable IR. The study aims to evaluate the institutional repositories of academic and research institutes in Maharashtra and develop suitable models, guidelines, and policies for establishing an IR. IRs, which are available on the internet, are considered for the study. The study avoids offline and nascent institutional repositories. The research target includes the identification of IRs in Maharashtra that were established on or before June 2021. The study covers the institutional repositories of academic and research institutes in Maharashtra. The commercial institutional r