Learning How to Play Nicely: Repositories and CRIS

More than 60 delegates convened at the Rose Bowl in Leeds on 7 May 2010 for this event to explore the developing relationship and overlap between Open Access research repositories and so called 'CRISs' – Current Research Information Systems – that are increasingly being implemented at universities. The Welsh Repository Network (WRN) [1], a collaborative venture between the Higher Education institutions (HEIs) in Wales, funded by JISC, had clearly hit upon an engaging topic du jour. The event, jointly supported by JISC [2] and ARMA (Association of Research Managers and Administrators)[3], was fully booked within just five days of being announced. In the main, delegates were either research managers and administrators, or repository managers, and one of the themes that came up throughout the day was the need for greater communication between research offices and libraries (where repository services are often managed.) As well as JISC and ARMA, euroCRIS [4], a not-for- profit organisation that aims to be an internationally recognised point of reference for CRISs, was represented at the event. Delegates could also visit the software exhibition and speak with representatives of Atira, Symplectic Ltd and Thomson Reuters, among others