Gregory Wiedeman
University Archivist
University at Albany, SUNY
Institutional Repositories (IRs) were envisioned in academic libraries as comprehensive platforms capable of supporting open access publishing, research outputs, and digitized special collections within a single system. In practice, however, most IRs and related digital asset management software (DAMS) were not designed around archival principles or data structures, often resulting in duplicative metadata creation, digital materials separated from their archival context, and workflows that could not fully leverage archival efficiencies at scale. Over time, these design limitations have carried significant organizational consequences, contributing not only to miscommunication between digital and archival processes within libraries but also to the development of multiple publicly funded repository platforms with overlapping scopes in New York State and beyond. This presentation examines these systemic challenges and argues that the emergence of IIIF, combined with the IMLS-funded ArcLight Integration Project and the Delivering Archives and Digital Objects Conceptual Model (DadoCM), offers a path forward. By clearly articulating archival requirements and enabling greater interoperability, academic libraries can move toward repository architectures that reduce redundancy, better leverage automation, and more fully realize the broad institutional vision that originally motivated IR development.
https://archives.albany.edu/arclight_integration/
https://dadocm.github.io/
