Editing Institutional repository (section)

==Functions==
Institutional repositories can be classified as a type of [[digital library]]. Institutional repositories perform the main functions of digital libraries by collecting, classifying, cataloging, curating, preserving, and providing access to digital content.

Institutional repositories enable researchers to [[self-archive]] their research output and can improve the visibility, usage and impact of research conducted at an institution.<ref name="Open access infrastructure">{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Ina|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=232204&gp=1&mode=e&lin=1|title=Open access infrastructure|date=2015|publisher=UNESCO Publishing|isbn=978-92-3-100075-1|pages=7}}</ref><ref name="unesdoc.unesco.org">{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Ina|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=232204&gp=1&mode=e&lin=1|title=Open access infrastructure|date=2015|publisher=UNESCO Publishing|isbn=978-92-3-100075-1|pages=20}}</ref> Other functions of an institutional repository include [[knowledge management]], research assessment, and open access to scholarly research.<ref name="unesdoc.unesco.org" />

In 2003, the functions of an institutional repository were described by [[Clifford Lynch]] in relation to universities. He stated that:

<blockquote>"... a university-based institutional repository is a set of services that a university offers to the members of its community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution and its community members. It is most essentially an organizational commitment to the stewardship of these digital materials, including long-term preservation where appropriate, as well as organization and access or distribution."<ref name="Open access infrastructure"/></blockquote>

The content of an institutional repository depends on the focus of the institution. Higher education institutions conduct research across multiple disciplines, thus research from a variety of [[Discipline (academia)|academic subjects]]. Examples of such institutional repositories include the MIT Institutional Repository. A [[disciplinary repository]] is subject specific. It holds and provides access to scholarly research in a particular discipline. While there can be disciplinary repositories for one institution, disciplinary repositories are frequently not tied to a specific institution. The PsyDok disciplinary repository, for example, holds German-language research in psychology, while SSOAR is an international social science full-text server.<ref name="Open access infrastructure" /> Content included in an institutional repository can be both [[digitized]] and [[born-digital]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Ina|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=232204&gp=1&mode=e&lin=1|title=Open access infrastructure|date=2015|publisher=UNESCO Publishing|isbn=978-92-3-100075-1|pages=19}}</ref>