The Common Cause: Advocating for Human Labor for Outreach, Technical Expertise, and the future of Institutional Repositories

Since 2021, SURFACE, Syracuse University’s institutional repository, has seen substantial growth in both content and commitment to long-term digital preservation. This progress is largely due to the Syracuse University Libraries’ investment in a dedicated three-person team focused on sustainability and development. As we face emerging technologies and AI, we question whether AI can replace human labor to reduce costs. Despite the financial appeal of cost-cutting, our presentation underscores the essential role of human labor. Through community-focused outreach and technical advancements like mass minting DOIs and restructuring our platform, we have demonstrated the irreplaceable value of human involvement. This presentation will explore the human labor behind the growth and maintenance of an Institutional Repository, arguing that AI cannot replace the nuanced and strategic efforts of human workers. We will discuss how our distributed labor approach has fostered a vibrant community and ensured long-term sustainability and preservation. Additionally, we will address the importance of outreach in transforming repositories into dynamic spaces of shared resources produced and maintained by collective effort. Through real-world examples, we will illustrate the limitations of AI and the critical need for human expertise in managing and preserving digital resources.