About Us

What does DRI do?

The Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) is a CoreTrustSeal-certified trustworthy digital repository for the preservation of Ireland’s humanities, cultural heritage, and social sciences digital data for long-term access.

DRI provides a unique service as the national infrastructure leading digital preservation in Ireland. Digital content is fragile, meaning that our shared digital cultural heritage is at risk of being lost without digital preservation, described as the ‘active management of digital content over time to ensure its ongoing access’ (Library of Congress).

DRI provides reliable, long-term, sustained digital preservation and access to social and cultural digital data generated by researchers in Ireland, held by Irish institutions, or digital material pertaining to the island of Ireland. We make this data openly available in line with the FAIR data principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. Our aim is to safeguard Ireland’s social, cultural, and historical record to ensure that this content remains accessible to researchers, cultural heritage enthusiasts, and members of the public into the future. We support best practice in digital preservation, open access, open research, and FAIR data sharing. Please see our statements on FAIR Principles and TRUST Principles for more information.

Who are DRI’s members?

DRI operates on a paid membership model. We provide stewardship of digital data from a range of member organisations including higher education institutions, cultural heritage institutions (the GLAM sector of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums), government agencies, and local authorities. DRI values a diversity of datasets and also offers free DRI Membership and related benefits to underfunded community-based organisations as part of the DRI Community Archive Scheme.

How does DRI support research?

In addition to our core DRI programme, DRI is a research-performing organisation (RPO) engaged in a rich range of collaborative partner projects. Find out more about these research projects on our Projects page. News and Events will point you to current initiatives and offerings.

DRI supports the principles of open research. As of 2022, DRI is the coordinating body for the National Open Research Forum. DRI coordinates NORF’s efforts to drive the national agenda for open research, including developing and supporting actions to strengthen, promote, and better support national objectives for open research  as outlined in the National Framework on the Transition to an Open Research Environment (2019) and the National Action Plan for Open Research 2022-2030. Since 2022, NORF and DRI have operated and administered a NORF Open Research Fund which allocates funding to deliver actions prioritised in the National Action Plan for Open Research.

In 2024, we launched a Legacy Data Preservation Pilot in collaboration with Sonraí, the Irish Data Stewardship Network, to support those researchers who cannot deposit in DRI through traditional routes, to preserve their research data for long-term access and discovery. When you explore or search the Repository, you are entering a world of rich content that reflects and shapes a broad portrait of Ireland.

Who are DRI’s funders?

DRI is funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) via the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Irish Research Council (IRC).

Mission and Vision

Mission

The DRI is a trustworthy national infrastructure for the preservation, curation, and dissemination of Ireland’s humanities, social sciences, and cultural heritage data.

Vision

The DRI is a national service for the long-term digital preservation of Ireland’s humanities, social sciences, and cultural heritage resources.

DRI is a trustworthy digital repository (TDR), providing online access to a wealth of digital resources across multiple domains for students, scholars, and the public.

DRI actively engages in the development of policy, is a significant contributor to European policy on Open Science, and is an internationally recognised leader in digital archiving and repository infrastructure.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy

As a national repository, the DRI’s collections, membership, partnerships and staff should reflect Ireland’s society and culture in all of its breadth and variety. You can find a short version of our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy, which contains the core EDI values that we work to, in the Repository. You can also find a long version with our actions and implementation for 2023-2025.

Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics for the Digital Repository of Ireland outlines DRI’s code of ethics in relation to the protection of deposited objects, objectivity with social responsibility, continued development, national policy and shared research, the FAIR data principles, privacy, communication, and equality.

DRI Management and Governance

DRI Board 

The DRI Board fosters the long-term success of the DRI through encouraging the highest standard of corporate governance and accountability, providing guidance to the DRI Director on the strategic direction of the Repository with a view to the DRI’s long-term sustainability, and monitoring progress towards strategic goals and key performance indicators. Read the DRI Board Terms of Reference (June 2018) to find out more.

DRI Management Team

DRI’s Management Team (MT) is the day-to-day management mechanism for DRI, providing technical advice to the Director on key operational decisions, and operating as a second stage of review for key new policies and initiatives developed by DRI Team members or recommended by DRI Task Forces. Management Team is composed of senior representatives from DRI’s three partner institutions (RIA, TCD, MU) and meets monthly or more frequently as necessary.

Task Forces

DRI operates a number of standing task forces that are constituted by DRI staff members, and members of the wider community in order to focus work in particular areas, track the evolution of best practice and organise operational tasks. Standing task forces include: Sustainability; Metadata; Requirements; UI/UX; Business Records; Membership; Communications; and Website Development. Specific-purpose working groups are also set up for work on time-limited projects and initiatives.

Expert Advisory Group

The Expert Advisory Group (EAG) is a forum for DRI staff to draw in a formal way on national and international expertise in a range of disciplines and sectors including the repositories and archives, cultural heritage, research and education, humanities and social sciences, legal, technical and creative domains. The EAG convenes as a group yearly or provides ad-hoc advice on key topics.

Members’ Forum

DRI is strongly connected to its designated community and regularly incorporates feedback into planning and features development. The Members’ Forum provides a regular venue for DRI members to discuss requirements, provide feedback, and network with peers on topics of relevance to digital archiving and preservation. Previously held twice annually in person, from 2020 DRI has hosted a monthly online format as part of our DRI Virtual Coffee Morning series. The DRI Virtual Coffee Mornings are a place for DRI’s staff and members to come together and discuss digital preservation topics, challenges, or projects in a relaxed environment.

History

DRI was originally funded through a PRTLI (Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions) Cycle 5 funding grant. In this phase (2011-2015), DRI was built through extensive research into archival and repository best practice, and through continuous  consultations with stakeholders across Ireland. The PRTLI 5 grant brought together a research consortium of six academic partners and over 40 staff to deliver the repository design and architecture, policies, guidelines, and training programmes. Throughout this period, DRI offered an active programme of outreach which included organising conferences, delivering academic papers, and participating widely in national and international networks of expertise.  The founding  consortium partners are: Royal Irish Academy (RIA, lead institute), Maynooth University (MU), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), and National College of Art and Design (NCAD).

DRI was officially launched in June 2015, and continues to be managed by three core academic institutions – RIA, TCD, and MU. DRI team members are based at each of these institutions. The DRI team combines academic and professional expertise across a range of disciplines and profiles, including software engineers, systems architects, archivists, humanities and social sciences scholars, educators, and information professionals.