Documentation Services Extended abstract

Institutional repositories may be defined as information systems capable of storing, preserving and providing access to the intellectual output produced by the members of a given institution. Within the specific context of a university, an institutional repository may contribute to increase its visibility and significance within academia as it concentrates and promotes the results of research activities carried out in the organisation. Additionally, an institutional repository nourishes the ideal of an “institutional memory ” by managing and preserving relevant informational items that otherwise would remain scattered, unattended or inaccessible. Closely related to concept of an institutional repository is the Open Access movement. Open Access means free online access to digital scholarly material – primarily peer-reviewed research papers, but extending also to other digital content that authors wish to make freely available to all users online [1]. Institutional repositories are considered the prime vehicle for the promotion and dissemination of such material. The Documentation Services of the University of Minho (SDUM) [2] have embrace