Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard

Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard
Name	Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard
Established	2008
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Type	Institutional repository
Collection size	Over 200,000 items
Website	dash.harvard.edu

Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard is a university-wide, open-access repository designed to collect, preserve, and provide unrestricted digital access to the scholarly output of the Harvard University community. Managed by the Harvard Library in collaboration with the Office for Scholarly Communication, it serves as a central hub for disseminating research, including articles, theses, and data, in alignment with global open access principles. The initiative underscores Harvard's commitment to broadening the reach and impact of its academic work beyond traditional publishing channels.

Overview

The repository operates as a cornerstone of Harvard University's strategy to promote open scholarship, enabling researchers to deposit their work in a freely accessible digital archive. It is built upon the open-source DSpace software platform, which is widely used by institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge. The system supports a vast array of formats, from pre-print manuscripts to complex datasets, facilitating compliance with funder mandates from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. By providing a stable, citable home for scholarly materials, it enhances visibility and supports the university's mission within the broader academic ecosystem, interacting with networks like the Open Archives Initiative.

Key Platforms and Repositories

The primary technical infrastructure is the DASH repository itself, which interoperates with other critical systems at Harvard University. These include HOLLIS, the university's main library catalog, and elements of the Harvard Library's digital preservation framework. For specific communities, related platforms like Dataverse, developed at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, manage research data. The ecosystem also connects with global aggregators and search tools such as Google Scholar, BASE, and the Directory of Open Access Repositories. This integration ensures that works deposited are discoverable alongside materials from other major repositories like those at Stanford University and the University of Oxford.

History and Development

The genesis of the repository followed the landmark Harvard Law School faculty vote in 2008 to adopt an open-access policy, a move soon echoed by the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This policy leadership, championed by figures like Stuart Shieber, led to the formal creation of the Office for Scholarly Communication and the launch of DASH. Its development was influenced by earlier digital library projects and the growing open access movement, exemplified by the Budapest Open Access Initiative. Over time, it has expanded to encompass more schools and deposit types, navigating the evolving landscape of scholarly communication alongside initiatives at University of California, Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Impact and Usage

The repository has significantly increased the global reach of Harvard University research, with millions of downloads recorded from users across six continents. Studies have shown that open-access articles in DASH often receive higher citation counts, benefiting authors from the Harvard Medical School to the Harvard Kennedy School. It has become an essential tool for fulfilling public access requirements from funders like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The availability of theses and dissertations has also transformed access to graduate work, influencing subsequent research at institutions from the University of Tokyo to the University of Cape Town.

Policies and Governance

Governance is structured through the Office for Scholarly Communication, operating under the auspices of the Harvard Library and in close consultation with the Harvard University Provost. The foundational open-access policies, first adopted by the Harvard Law School, grant the university a non-exclusive license to distribute faculty scholarship. These policies are administered with careful attention to copyright law, often involving the SHERPA/RoMEO database for publisher policies. Management and strategic direction are informed by committees with representation from across the university's faculties, including the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Related Initiatives and Partnerships

The repository is part of a wider network of open-access endeavors at Harvard University. These include the Harvard Open Access Project, which studies policy impacts, and participation in the Open Access 2020 initiative. Harvard Library collaborates with consortia like the Association of Research Libraries and the Boston Library Consortium on shared infrastructure. Internationally, partnerships with entities like COAR and Jisc help align practices. The repository also complements Harvard's membership in arXiv, PubMed Central, and the Open Science Framework, creating a cohesive environment for open scholarship alongside efforts at Yale University and the University of Chicago.

Category:Harvard University Category:Digital libraries Category:Open access (publishing)