From legacy to next generation: a story of collaboration to push the boundaries of the open source Haplo repository from Cayuse

Abstract

This article describes the development of the Haplo standards-based, open source repository software, from Cayuse, that meets the findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) principles, and which captures all research, regardless of what it is, with a focus on prioritizing the capture of ‘practice research’ – ‘… an umbrella term that describes all manners of research where practice is the significant method of research conveyed in a research output.’ in the arts and architecture. This research has been neglected by the repository landscape and surrounding discoverability infrastructure, which has traditionally focused on text-based research publications in the STEM disciplines where there is a policy mandate (and funding) for open access. As practice research has not been captured effectively in repositories, it has not been possible for it to be preserved for long-term access via appropriate integrated digital preservation solutions. This story of collaboration between the University of Westminster and Haplo (now Cayuse), puts researchers at the centre of development, using a co-design approach, while ensuring the Research and Scholarly Communications team (then based within the Library and Archives Service) at the University were driving this work in alignment with sector-wide standards. The role of user engagement, advocacy and inclusive policy development is highlighted and illustrates that this underpins, and is crucial to, successful software development. While the successes are documented and celebrated, the challenges are acknowledged and the lessons learned are shared.