AquaDocs in the new Environment

 Background

AquaDocs is the joint open access repository of the UNESCO/IOC InternationaI Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) and the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC) with support from the FAO Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA). AquaDocs provides open access to publications covering the natural marine, coastal, estuarine/brackish and freshwater environments, and was created in August 2021 by merging content from two earlier repositories (OceanDocs and Aquatic Commons).

Project goals are as follows:

• Make aquatic and marine science information FAIR for all;

• Make grey literature more easily and equitably available;

• Offer a repository platform to organizations and individuals without the infrastructure to support their own;

• Offer repository trainings and support.

Growth and usage

As of October 6, 2025, AquaDocs had 37,170 deposits, an increase of 137 records since last year’s report and the launch of the new platform in January 2025. Since the launch nine months ago, there were 682,909 record views, and 137,718 PDF downloads.

AquaDocs serves as a repository for 130+ organizations and projects. No new communities were added this year but there was renewed activity from existing communities waiting to deposit into the new platform, and a substantial project to provide training and guidance to several groups associated with the University of Panamá.

Highlights 2024/25

Repository Migration. DSquare Technologies (D2T) was awarded the hosting contract for AquaDocs in August 2024. A sub-group worked with D2T to migrate AquaDocs from Atmire’s Open Repository platform to D2T’s Knowledge Hub. The new platform, also based on DSpace, was launched in January 2025. Since the launch, we continued to meet regularly with D2T to resolve a number of outstanding issues and to develop additional functionality.

New features include:

• Multilingual interface in English, Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish. D2T used machine learning to translate over 3,000 elements later verified by IAMSLIC members Saida Messaoudi, Assia Boukrouh (Arabic), Arame Keita (French), Ekaterina Kulakova (Russian), and Leticia Lizondo (Spanish). Members also translated labels and help text for the submission form. Work is underway to add Portuguese and Chinese.

• Integration with ORCiD to provide a unique persistent identifier for authors and disambiguate between individuals with the same name.

• Integration with AGROVOC (a multilingual vocabulary from FAO incl. ASFA terms).

• Integration with GeoNames, a database of 11 million place names incl. water bodies.

• Bulk upload functionality that has been tested.

• More detailed usage statistics (views and downloads) for an item, collection, sub-community or community, and by desired time period (e.g. week, month, year, etc).

Repository Operations. Project managers and Editorial Team continue to onboard new communities, and facilitate contributions from new and existing organizations. They respond to queries from depositors and review metadata for quality assurance.

AquaDocs Training. Drafted user guides for depositors, editors, collections administrators are uploaded on the platform. Training to individuals and groups in Panamá is provided (Oct 2, 2025). A training workshop at IAMSLIC Conference was presented on October 7, 2025.

Funding and Hosting. At the 28th Session of the IOC Committee on the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE-28) in March 2025, funding for AquaDocs (hosting and participation in the Management Group meeting) was included in the IODE Programme workplan and budget. The contract with DSquare Technologies was renewed for a second year in September 2025.

Steering Group and Editorial Team. The AquaDocs Steering Group and Editorial Team are planning to meet in November or December 2025. At the meeting, we are going to agree on our priorities for 2026 incl. any steps needed to assess the feasibility and suitability of a merger with OpenASFA.

Priorities for 2025/26

Technical Improvements. Continue to work with D2T to resolve outstanding issues, and add Portuguese and Chinese interfaces. Work with OpenASFA to implement regular harvesting of metadata from the new platform. We continue discussions with OpenASFA colleagues about ongoing collaboration and the potential of a merger.

Funding and Hosting. Advocate with IODE for ongoing funding and investigate a more streamlined approach for annual renewal of hosting agreement.