The activity manager of the FCCN Unit, Paulo Lopes, explains all about the relevance of one of our newest services - INDEXAR.
The creation of INDEXAR* - Directory of Digital Knowledge Resources is the result of the need for a platform capable of identifying repositories and digital scientific journals existing at national levelin the various areas of knowledge. The ultimate goal is related to the need to disseminate and promote access to knowledge, but also to standardize, raise awareness and make entities responsible for disseminating and accessing information.
It is a directory that offers the possibility of searching and browsing all registered resources using different information, such as location, software or type of material stored. In this way, INDEXAR provides complete and credible information on existing science and culture repositories and journals at national level, making it possible to disseminate the information registered, particularly by international directories linked to the fields of activity of the resources registered on INDEXAR.
" INDEXAR is an important aid for [...] research"
For the same reason, INDEXAR is also an important aid in identifying relevant digital resources for needs related to research, academic research or the simple need to find very specific information in the field of science and culture.
The Present and the Future
INDEXAR was launched in July 2022 and currently provides detailed information on 237 resources, including Institutional Repositories (118), Archives, Libraries or Digital Museums (55), Thematic or Disciplinary Repositories (45), Scientific Journals (10), Aggregator Systems (6), Research Data Repositories (3).
The registration and availability of these resources is validated by experts belonging to reference bodies in the respective fields of activity in which these registers are located. This validation process provides an added guarantee of the quality and relevance of the information recorded on INDEXAR.
The first phase of the service has involved consolidating the information on INDEXAR, involving the community and fostering cooperation between the institutions that are part of the directory, promoting the sharing of policies, good practices, management models and knowledge, among other things.
New resources are expected to be registered in 2023, with a particular focus on scientific journals. It is also expected that INDEXAR will play an important role as a reference or certification tool in the development of systems or policies that require a primary source of information on digital resources.
* Project co-financed by the Technical Assistance Operational Program, Portugal 2020 and the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund.
