OnCoRe Blueprint: The Art & Science of Repository Creation

Susie HendersonFlorida Distance Learning Consortium

• Repository background• OnCoRe Blueprint Project

– Unique repository features– A community of practice– The Blueprint

• Lessons Learned• Future of repositories

What we’ll cover…

What is a Digital Repository?

A system that:• stores and manages digital resources• facilitates discovery of resources• enables resource sharing and re-use• provides multiple levels of appearance,

accessibility, and control mechanisms

Often large statewide, regional, or national systems

Why Build a Repository?

• Improve teaching and learning• Decrease duplication of effort through

the re-use of quality digital content• Establish content independence • Contain or reduce development costs:

Content is created once and used or repurposed many times

Which states are developing repositories that we know of?

• California• Florida• Georgia• Kentucky• Louisiana• Minnesota• North Carolina• Tennessee

How do you go about building a repository?

• What should you consider?• Is there a guide or a cookbook?

provides information, resources, research, & lessons learned from

actual repository projects

The OnCoRe Blueprint

Blueprint Project Benefits

• Gather best practices• Discover innovative or unique repository features• Produce free monthly webinars on relevant topics• Research open source repository products• Create a community of practice• Produce OnCoRe Blueprint as a dynamic online

resource

Research Repositories & Interview Leadership

Gather Best Practices

• North Carolina CC Repository RFP• Intute

harvesting/federating info• Standards

– Metadata– Software

Discover innovative or unique features that benefit faculty and students. For example…

Rice University Connexions

• Free and open access• Anyone can contribute resources• Textbook publishing

Connexions – A University Press

• Re-mix content to create a textbook• Order it online• Delivered the next day by courier• Cost effective

– reduces the cost of a 300-page hardback engineering textbook from $122 to $22

• Always up-to-date with the latest material from the global repository.

Wisc-Online

• Based at Fox Valley Technical College

• Funded by – Fox Valley Technical College

– Wisconsin Technical College System

– Grants (FIPSE, NSF, & others)

– Corporate training efforts

• Create learning objects for faculty members

• Staff of 15

Wisc Online

Learning Object Development• A faculty member identifies a difficult

topic– Hard for learners to understand– Presents challenges for instructional delivery

• The instructor creates a content outline and script

Learning Object Development

• Work with Wisc-online team to develop– Instructional designer adapts the content for

multimedia and Web delivery– Technical developer builds the object– Reviewers and the editor evaluate the object– Faculty member reviews and approves the

final learning object to be posted

MERLOT

• Partnerships– State University and College Systems– Individual Campuses– Professional Societies– Digital Libraries– Corporate Partners

Intute

• Based in UK• Funded by Joint Information Systems

Committee (JISC)• Database of vetted web resources• Web searching for scholarship

Create a Community of Practice

• No cost to participate• Share information• Explore issues• Provide expert presentations via webinars • Facilitate online discussions (blog, wiki)• The OnCoRe Blueprint

OnCoRe Blueprint Project

• FIPSE funded 2006-2009• Website www.oncoreblueprint.org• Blueprint

– Planning– Implementation– Sustainability

OnCoRe Blueprint Project

OnCoRe Blueprint Project

Lessons Learned

• Involve state leadership – early – to create champions

• Planning and policies are key• Core effective staff are:

– Director – Project Manager– Technical/Programmer

• Adequate and sustainable funding are required• Distribute workload to institutions to save

money and achieve buy-in

Lessons Learned

• The term “learning object is overused and misunderstood

• Adopt a vocabulary that describes and defines repository resources– content asset– information object – learning object– learning component

Lessons Learned

• Content Development– Expensive, time-consuming, but rewarding

professional development for faculty– Cross-functional team most effective

Subject Matter Experts – 2Instructional designer (at least 1)Developer (at least 1)

• You can’t build all the content your state needs – and - don’t want to!

Lessons Learned

Repository software must be– Simple & easy to use– Intuitive– Customizable– Standards based– Supports federation and harvesting

It’s difficult to overcome negative perceptions

The Future of Repositories

• Textbook publishing• Publisher content• Integration of LMS and repositories• Repositories as portals

• The Orange Grove http://www.theorangegrove.org/• Rice Connexions http://cnx.org/• Wisc-Online http://www.wisc-online.com/• BC Campus SOL*R http://solr.bccampus.ca/cms2/• MERLOT http://www.merlot.org/• OER Commons http://www.oercommons.org/• Maricopa Learning Exchange

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mlx/• CLOE http://cloe.on.ca/

Repository URL’s

Questions & Answers

Susie Henderson, Principal Investigator, OnCoRe Blueprint 850-922-3359

shenderson@distancelearn.org

Miko Pattie, Kentucky Learning Depot, OnCoRe Blueprint Pilot Partner State