DEAKIN RESEARCH ONLINE LAUNCH

Deakin Research Online (DRO) was launched at Deakin University's Research Conference held Tuesday 30th September 2008. Deakin Research Online (www.deakin.edu.au/dro) is a digital institutional repository. It provides a platform for sharing Deakin University's research with its research community and provides permanent storage for research outputs. As an open repository, DRO enables global access to the results of Deakin's research. Deakin Research Online has been developed with the assistance of government funding earmarked to improve public access to publicly funded research.

The Conference was attended by 300 researchers and research support staff from Deakin University. Ms Leanne Harvey, the General Manager of the Research Excellence Branch of the Australian Research Council (ARC) was a visiting speaker proving a timely update on the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor David Stokes, anticipates researchers at Deakin will enthusiastically embrace Deakin Research Online.

"This exciting development opens the door to Deakin University research for the world to see and use. Deakin Research Online provides great opportunities to connect researchers, to support partnerships and to reach out to communities and individuals, sharing the results of our research. It truly does support Deakin University's ambitious mission to be a catalyst for positive change for the individuals and the communities it serves," he said.

The University Librarian, Mrs Anne Horn, thanked the team of dedicated Library, IT and research staff whose expertise made this innovative project possible. Mrs Horn highlighted the changes in scholarly communication and the growing expectations of the wider community for information to be easily accessible and freely available.