The University of Iceland joins Skemman

Abstract

Skemman (http://www.skemman.is) is an open-access repository serving four universities in Iceland. The project was originally started by the University of Akureyri library in 2002. In 2006 the library of the Iceland University of Education joined and a project group was formed to continue the development of the repository, which uses DSpace software. In February 2008 the University of Iceland's University Council voted to join Skemman and to collect electronic copies of students’ theses as well as the paper copies that had traditionally been preserved. On 1 July 2008 the Iceland University of Education was merged into the University of Iceland as one of its five schools. It was then decided that the management and technical administration of the system would be moved to the National and University Library (NULI) and that thesis collection would begin with the school year 2008-2009. In December 2008 Bifrost University and the Iceland Academy of the Arts joined Skemman, as did the University of Iceland as a whole. So far Skemman houses mainly student dissertations and theses. In the future the plan is to include articles and other material by university faculty and staff members.

Skemman (http://www.skemman.is) er rafrænt gagnasafn Háskóla Íslands, Háskólans á Akureyri, Háskólans á Bifröst og Listaháskóla Íslands. Það var upphaflega stofnað af Bókasafni Háskólans á Akureyri 2002 en er nú hýst hjá Landsbókasafni Íslands – Háskólabókasafni. Í safninu eru geymd lokaverkefni nemenda og vonir standa til að rannsóknarit starfsmanna verði einnig hýst þar í framtíðinni. Á fundi háskólaráðs Háskóla Íslands í febrúar 2008 var tillaga frá samstarfsnefnd Háskóla Íslands og Landsbókasafns um rafræn skil og varðveislu lokaritgerða nemenda samþykkt einróma. Landsbókasafn ákvað síðan að safna ritgerðum frá og með haustinu 2008. Nú hafa 1759 nemendur HÍ vistað ritgerðir sínar í Skemmunni. Nemendur hafa val um opið eða lokað aðgengi í Skemmunni og flestir velja opið aðgengi. Þó hafa það verið talsverð vonbrigði að nokkuð margir kjósa lokað aðgengi.