Bridging the Silos of Institutional Data Repositories: Community Collaboration and Cross-Institutional Development

Institutional repositories (IRs) play a crucial role in preserving and sharing scholarly outputs, yet they often operate in isolation, limiting their potential to support a truly integrated open data ecosystem. Through the Repository Readiness Project, led by the Data Curation Network (DCN), data stewards and repository specialists explored strategies for developing more interconnected and effective research data services. The project culminated in the Summit for Academic Institutional Readiness in Data Sharing (STAIRS), which brought together over 100 institutional stakeholders including librarians, IT professionals, and administrators from Offices of Research from US academic institutions to address research data management challenges. Key findings reveal the critical need for cross-institutional collaboration, shared standards, and a more holistic approach to data sharing infrastructure. This research highlights that effective data management cannot be achieved by libraries or individual institutions in isolation but requires strategic engagement and an active community of practice within and across institutions throughout the research lifecycle. In this presentation, we will provide background information on the project as well as recommendations for funding agencies, academic institutions, and research collaborators, focusing on three primary strategies: fostering cross-institutional collaboration, establishing centralized resource banks, and strengthening institutional data services.