About IReL
History
IReL the Irish Research eLibrary is a nationally funded electronic research library, initially conceived to support researchers in Biotechnology and Information Technology in mid-summer 2004, and following on the success of this, expanded in 2006 to support research in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
High-level research is both an academic and a national economic imperative, the essential component of a strategy to develop a knowledge-based economy and to position Ireland as a world leader in this respect. As a result of initiatives funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) through the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI), and projects funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) there has been a major enhancement in the research profile of the Irish universities.
In response to an invitation from SFI transmitted via the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU since renamed the Irish Universities Association, IUA), the university librarians submitted a proposal in June 2002 for the development of an electronic library, or research information resource. This proposal envisaged that the electronic library would be established on a consortium basis and available to the research community throughout the sector. Following favourable approval, IReL began in Summer of 2004 concentrating on resources to support biotechnology, and information and communications technology. This (STM) phase of IReL is to continue until December 2009.
The success of the Science, Technology & Medicine (STM) phase of IReL has resulted in the funding by HEA of a second phase of IReL to run from 2006 to 2009 to support the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) a major boost to researchers in these areas.
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What is available?
IReL delivers quality peer-reviewed online research publications journals, databases and index & abstracting services, as well as ebooks - direct to the desktop of researchers wherever they are located. Link to IReL holdings as of May 2010
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Why a national approach?
A number of factors support the value of a national as opposed to an institutional approach to acquiring e-resources:
- the inability of individual institutions to bear the cost of comprehensive information provision;
- the collaborative cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary nature of the various research initiatives;
- the advantage of economies of scale from consortium purchasing
- the advantage of economies of scale from centralised negotiation and administration, especially in view of the highly flexible pricing of the resources;
- the need to make the resource available to researchers across the sector, regardless of the institution in which they are based
In addition to ensuring Irelands competitive advantage for access to high quality research, the benefits of IReL are available to all students and staff in the universities. This is particularly important in instilling a research culture at undergraduate level and is making a significant contribution to Government commitment as recommended in the OECD report to double the number of postgraduates by 2010.
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How IReL is managed
The IUA Librarians Group has overall responsibility for the collaborative project, and commits a significant proportion of existing resources to run it. IReL is managed by IRIS Ltd a company owned by the universities - with the assistance of the IReL Steering Group (ISG). IRIS Ltd and the ISG work closely with the contracted negotiators to acquire agreed content at the best possible rates and at the most favourable licensing conditions for IReL member libraries.
The IReL Monitoring Group was established to monitor the performance of IReL Resources, to promote IReL, and advise the IUA and IReL Steering Group. This includes actions deemed necessary to maintain adequate and appropriate coverage of resources in response to the changing needs of researchers. The Monitoring Group has also published a number of reports, some of which can be downloaded from here.
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Success of IReL
Researchers in Irish universities now have access to a world-class electronic library service comparable to any such service in the international research community. The range and quality of publications available through IReL compares favourably to what is available in some of the leading research libraries, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Columbia University and Imperial College London.
It is heavily used
Since the release of the first resources in 2005, millions of journal articles have been downloaded each year. Researchers and students have also made excellent use of the databases and ebook collections, performing over two million searches in 2008 and consulting over a million ebook sections over the last four years.
The chart below shows the aggregated usage of all monitored (approximately 94% by value) IReL resources (including ebooks, ejournals and databases, both HSS and STM resources) between 2005 and 2008, combining searches and downloads. The statistical information was collected by the Monitoring Group.
Number of searches and downloads 2005-2008
Impact factors
Examples of the journals to which IReL offers access and their world ranking (ISI Journal Impact Factors)
Examples of the journals to which IReL offers access and their world ranking (as of July 2010)
| Research Interest area: | Of the top 20 Highest ranked titles IReL offers: | % top 20 Titles accessible
|
| Biomedical Engineering |
17 |
85% |
| Biochemical Research Methods |
17 |
85% |
| Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology |
17 |
85% |
| Chemical Engineering |
19 |
95% |
| Computer Science / Information Systems / Software Eng etc. |
17 |
85% |
| Surgery |
13 |
65% |
| History |
17 |
85% |
| Economics |
20 |
100% |
| Law |
20 |
100% |
Findings of the Impact Survey 2009
The IReL Monitoring Group conducted a survey between 25th of March and 9th of April 2009, targeting researchers and students at the seven Irish universities and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the impact that IReL has had on research, the nature of usage and any suggestions for improvement.
This representative survey (with a response rate of 37%, twice the 2007 response rate) highlighted the paramount role IReL plays in the everyday life of researchers in Ireland. IReL has enabled faster access to a wider range of publications, enhanced research in a multidisciplinary context and had a positive effect on the competitiveness of research output as a whole. Beyond the primary purpose of research, respondents felt that the service has helped them to enhance teaching and undergraduate learning, and helped institutions forge successful partnerships.
It has also become clear from the survey, that IReL has evolved into a tool without which it is impossible to conduct research effectively in Ireland. Invited to comment on how any discontinuation of IReL would affect their work, respondents expressed grave concern at such a possibility.
To read the full report, please click here.
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What the researchers think
See Testimonials
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How to access IReL
Although it is possible to link to publishers web sites from this site, via Lists of the Resources, in order to obtain its full functionality, users are advised to access IReL (is available through) via their university Library website as follows:
All of the libraries offer off-campus access, which means that wherever researchers or students are located they can access a world of knowledge - delivered via IReL
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The future of IReL
The objective of IReL is ambitious. The purpose is to provide common access to electronic resources for all IReL members. In so doing there will be clear benefits not just for researchers and research projects, but also for those whose objective it is to attract researchers of the highest international calibre to make Ireland and Irish research institutions their preferred location
IReL currently serves the 7 Irish universities, and future development are expected to include the Institutes of Technology and other educational institutions.
Further developments may see IReL providing centralised federated search and resource discovery facilities, enabling users to perform a single search across the various resources, with direct links to the text of scholarly journals
Funding
The initial (STM) phase of IReL is jointly funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the HEA. The HSS phase is funded entirely by the HEA. Total state investment in the first 5 years of IReL will be over €35 million.
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