SWORD : simple web service offering repository deposit

This paper presents an overview of a JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) activity to scope, define and develop a deposit specification for use across the repositories space, which has come to fruition within the SWORD (Simple Web service Offering Repository Deposit) project 1. It will look both at the background and how this piece of work came to pass, the movement from informal working group to funded project, the lightweight project construction and the resulting protocol and technical outputs. The paper will also consider the future of SWORD and look at some of the activity which has already galvanised around the project outputs.