A short while ago I attended a webcast on institutional repositories hosted by the Association of Research Libraries. Aside from the content, the delivery of and experience with attending the webcast was quite interesting. I thought it went very well and there was nice integration of live video, audio, PowerPoint, interactive questions and answers, etc. The general delivery mechanism was, I think, quite compelling, especially for distance learning environments.

Of course, the content was also important and the topic of institutional repositories is one that I am quite interested in. Attendance by others at Taylor was sparse, but those that came felt it was very worthwhile. These included the associate vp for academic affairs, the associate vp for information technology, and the director of academic technology. I think this webcast helped to stimulate ideas and discussion. Even a small institution like Taylor needs to consider this kind of thing quite carefully, otherwise we risk losing a significant portion of our heritage that’s increasingly being published and delivered in purely digital form.