In recent years advances in technology, particularly the internet have precipitated a move towards a model of open access in scholarly publishing with the aim of removing barriers to access, particularly cost. 

Increasing numbers of peer-reviewed journals are being made available online on an open access basis and there has also been an associated move towards the practice of self-archiving by the academic community whereby scholars place their research output in a publicly available online archive. 

The Institutional Repository has become the established technology deployed at universities and other institutions to enable scholars to self-archive and has the potential to meet a number of institutional needs:

• an open access research repository
• an assessment, learning and teaching repository for learning objects, assessment objects
• a showcase for students work
• digital images of heritage collections
• a managed environment for the deposit of internal documents