LIBSENSE-Connect 2024 - Abuja: Establishing a National Repository Service

Africa/Lagos
NgREN Secretariat

NgREN Secretariat

NUC Building, Abuja
Omo Oaiya (WACREN), Paul Walk (Antleaf)
Description

The second LIBSENSE-Connect workshop will explore the requirements and benefits of establishing a national repository service for Nigeria. WACREN proposes a centrally hosted, multi-tenanted repository service, potentially utilising the open-source Invenio-based WEKO3 platform developed in collaboration with Japan's National Institute of Informatics.

A national repository service can provide significant advantages to participating institutions. The workshop will present these benefits and facilitate discussions on how such a service can elevate Nigerian institutional repositories within the global open science infrastructure, as a regional example.

Workshop Objectives

Meeting Institutional Requirements:
The workshop will address the specific needs of institutions considering the transition to a national repository service. Ensuring these needs are met is crucial for participation and success.

Technical and Migration Considerations:
Participants will be invited to outline any technical requirements they foresee in moving their repositories to a national service. The workshop will also cover data and metadata migration from legacy systems, such as upgrading from older versions of DSpace to a modern platform.

Focus on Metadata Interoperability:
A key technical focus will be on metadata interoperability. The workshop will discuss the development of a national metadata profile for Nigeria, reviewing the Common Metadata Schema for Nigerian Repositories recently developed in collaboration with AULNU, and examine it against the modern Rioxx 3 profile, which supports national open-access policy reporting and provides machine-interoperable metadata.

Benefits and Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

  • Understand the benefits of a national repository service.
  • Identify and articulate their own requirements and concerns.
  • Engage in discussions about the service in an open and collaborative environment.
  • Gain insights into the technical and practical aspects of migrating to a national repository service.


The workshop is an essential step towards enhancing the role of institutional repositories from the region in the international open science community, ensuring they meet both national and global standards for accessibility and interoperability.

Target Participants:

Participants will be technical personnel responsible for repositories and related systems supporting scholarly communication in higher education institutions.

Participants for this workshop must: 

  • be based in an African country 
  • have a working knowledge of English
  • be technically competent to a certain level (determined through information provided in the registration form) 
  • be able to articulate their institution's likely requirements for a hosted repository service.
LIBSENSE-Connect
    • 1
      Welcome
      Speaker: Dr Joshua Atah (CEO, NgREN)
    • 2
      Introductions (everyone)
    • 3
      LIBSENSE-Connect

      About the program, its aspirations and community participation opportunities

      Speaker: Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
    • 4
      Overview of the workshop
      Speaker: Mr Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 5
      Overview of benefits of and requirements for a national repository service I

      Presentations

      Speakers: Omo Oaiya (WACREN), Mr Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 11:00
      Coffee and Group Photo
    • 6
      Overview of benefits of and requirements for a national repository service II

      Open discussion

      Speakers: Paul Walk (Antleaf), Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
    • 13:00
      Lunch
    • 7
      Demonstration of a shared repository infrastructure service

      An implementation of Weko3 as part of a WACREN collaboration with the National Institute of Informatics (NII) to ensure that NREN communities have access to cutting-edge repository services that meet their specific needs and challenges.

      Speaker: Sefakor Ankora (WACREN)
    • 15:00
      Coffee Break and Networking
    • 8
      Q & A and general discussion about the shared repository service
      Speakers: Paul Walk (Antleaf), Sefakor Ankora (WACREN)
    • 9
      Summing up Day 1
      Speaker: Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 10
      Recap of day 1
      Speaker: Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 11
      Open discussion of technical requirements from institutions I
      Speakers: Omo Oaiya (WACREN), Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 11:00
      Coffee Break and Networking
    • 12
      Open discussion of technical requirements from institutions II
      Speakers: Paul Walk (Antleaf), Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
    • 13:00
      Lunch
    • 13
      Introduction to the Common Metadata Schema for Nigerian Repositories
      Speaker: Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
    • 14
      Introduction to Rioxx 3
      Speaker: Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 15:00
      Coffee Break and Networking
    • 15
      Discussion of the benefits and requirements for a national metadata profile

      Includes exercise to take the Rioxx profile and go through it, tailoring it to the Nigerian context as an example

      Speakers: Paul Walk (Antleaf), Omo Oaiya (WACREN)
    • 16
      Summing up Day 2
      Speaker: Paul Walk (Antleaf)
    • 17
      Planning next steps for the programme

      Group session is to collaboratively plan and define the next steps.

      Speakers: Omo Oaiya (WACREN), Sefakor Ankora (WACREN)
    • 11:00
      Coffee Break and Networking
    • 18
      Wrap up