Research Tools:Important Drivers for Innovation in Research Repository Architecture

Online tools are critical to undertake successful research. Researchers use software tools as an integral part of research to process, manage, and integrate data from multiple sources. However, while institutional repositories are tackling challenges around supporting research data, little attention has been paid to the implications for repositories in supporting the increasingly complex tools which are used in the data lifecycle. Tools and workflows can play an important role in building quality repositories. This increasing use of tools has implications not only for researchers but also the institutions who manage those repositories. This paper suggests strategies for institutional stakeholders, particularly libraries, on how to implement solutions which will ensure interoperability at all levels of research repository architecture.