Institutional repositories (IRs) currently exist in a rapidly shifting
landscape without a clear consensus on their role in the academic
environment. Low self-archiving rates have dampened hopes that IRs
would have an impact on scholarly publishing models. Preservation
programs, a stated goal of many IRs, are often not well established.
In many cases, IRs are not part of a larger vision for services the library
can provide to the institution, but are isolated projects without
a strong base of support. Institutions are beginning to explore the
role of IRs in the collection of materials like data sets. Given this
environment, where will IRs be in the next five or ten years? This
issue of Library Trends contains an impressive slate of articles from
prominent practitioners and researchers in the field, who offer a
range of perspectives on the current state of IRs in academic institutions
and reflections on their future.