Implementing BePress' Digital Commons Institutional Repository Solution: Two Views from the Trenches

Carol A. Watson, University of Georgia School of Law Library
James M. Donovan, University of Georgia School of Law Library
Pamela Bluh, University of Maryland School of Law Library

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Presentation at the 18th Conference for Law School Computing (CALI), The University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, MD, June 19-21, 2008

Abstract

Librarians from the University of Georgia Law Library and University of Maryland Law Library discuss their experiences implementing Digital Commons' institutional repository product. Issues to be considered include:

- Creating a business plan to persuade law school administrators to establish an institutional repository -- how to justify the expenditure, distinguishing Digital Commons from SSRN, choosing Digital Commons rather than an open source solution

- Obtaining content for the repository -- promoting the repository, building buy-in from contributors, establishing content policies, determining types of materials to be included in the repository, self-archiving versus mediated archiving

- Copyright permissions -- appending supplemental language to publication agreements, SHERPA/roMEO, keeping track of copyright permissions, developing a decision flowchart for copyright permissions

- Cooperative repository applications -- liasing with other law school departments, implementing a repository in a consortium environment