In this paper we describe the implementation of the Minho University (UMinho) Institutional
Repository (RepositóriUM), Portugal. UMinho translated and has been using the first Portuguese
version of DSpace, an Open Source software system developed in a partnership of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The five phases established for the
implementation plan are pointed out in this work (1. installation, translation, and configuration; 2.
upload of thesis and dissertations; 3. establishment of pilot communities; 4. making the repository
public, and 5. opening to the overall UMinho community), as well as, the reasons that led to the
choice of the six pilot communities of different areas of knowledge (Information Systems; Polymers
Engineering; Biological Engineering; Management, and one from the Humanities and another from
the Social Sciences areas) to participate in this implementation period. In this paper we wish to
share the lessons learnt, and the pathways for research, in particular for cross-cultural research,
according to some questions and observations obtained during the first 10 months of experience.
With this information as a background, some research pathways have been identified and are starting
to be further developed in the context of MSc or PhD research at UMinho