As the volume of digital data multiplies exponentially and the use of digital repositories to capture academic research expands, the demands on academic librarians are also increasing. Librarians are expected to serve as liaisons between data authors, managers, scientists and end users, while providing a full range of curation services. Little has been offered from the perspective of archival and records management, despite archivists’ traditional role as keepers and stewards of scholars’ data. Archival science focuses on appraising, selecting and describing data, managing data retention and attending to source, authenticity and preservation. Professional archivists have considerable expertise in handling volumes of research data, and archival methods can add efficiency to digital data management. Greater collaboration between academic library liaisons and archivists is urged, recognizing and integrating the skills of each profession to best advantage for the most effective approach to comprehensive data curation and management of digital repositories.

An online survey of institutional repository (IR) managers identified copyright clearance trends in staffing and workflows. The majority of respondents followed a mediated deposit model, and reported that library personnel, instead of authors, engaged in copyright clearance activities for IRs. The most common “information gaps” pertained to the breadth of information in copyright directories like SHERPA/RoMEO. To fill these gaps, most respondents directly contacted publishers for permissions. Respondents typically did not share publisher responses with other IRs, citing barriers such as time, expertise, staffing, and the need for improved methods for sharing data with copyright directories.

Marketing is an activity that is integral to the growth and use of a campus
institutional repository (IR). But what kinds of marketing activities
do libraries engage in to advertise the new services associated
with an IR? This chapter summarizes basic marketing principles and describes
the application of those principles as they relate to marketing an institutional
repository within a higher education setting.

This final project report to the Provost summarizes the work of the Digital Repository Librarian and Digital Repository Assistant (LAII) during the three‐year Provost‐funded DigitalCommons@CalPoly service, during Academic Year (AY) 2007‐2010. It is based on the subtask and annual reports that have been established during the project. Recommendations for future activities are also included.

Many institutional repositories (IRs) provide open access to published work. The authors of those works typically transfer copyright or exclusive distribution rights for their work to their publisher. This means the author cannot themselves grant permission for deposit in the IR; rather permissions must be secured from the publisher.

In Fall 2009, the authors conducted a survey of institutional repository managers to gain a clearer understanding of the staffing, resources, activities and tools employed to clear copyright for published work, with the intent to deposit into an IR. This poster summarizes preliminary findings.

While library research on data curation is active and ongoing in the humanities and social sciences, the research regarding data curation within the sciences is in its infancy. The lack of knowledge about data creation, management, and reuse has a direct impact on librarianship, library services, and library users, as libraries are now being asked to provide services to archive data created at their universities. What are the data curation needs on campus, and what services are libraries and librarians willing and able to provide to meet these needs?

Information gathered from a survey distributed to Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo science and mathematics faculty will help provide insight into the awareness of science researchers about data curation issues and their needs for data curation services and education regarding maintenance and management of data.

This webinar provides a description of the factors/process behind the implementation of Digital Commons at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo and Pacific University (Oregon).

Metadata is essential for organizing, searching, and managing information resources, particularly as libraries expand their efforts in making their collections available on the web. Libraries are populating institutional repositories with a myriad of resources, including digitized special collections materials, finding aids, electronic theses, peer-reviewed faculty work and other research, scholarship and creative outputs. But what are libraries doing about the descriptive metadata that allows users to search, find, and select these resources in their repositories? What redundancies are created when libraries engage in collecting, enhancing, or redistributing metadata in siloed systems? Can redundant metadata generation efforts be streamlined? We will discuss some current descriptive metadata practices in institutional repositories, identify areas where redundant efforts may occur, and discuss strategies to improve management, collection, and re-use of descriptive metadata.

Information privacy is an important consideration when transitioning university collections from paper to electronic access. Yet the protection of -- and limits to -- student privacy regulations have rarely been addressed in the literature for online electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and its relevance to student work should be a consideration when widely distributing scholarship like e-portfolios, ETDs, and senior capstone projects. In this article, we share several campus approaches to FERPA and electronic student work.

Outsourcing digitization of library materials can be a daunting endeavor. Developing a clear sense of project scope, requirements, and expected deliverables can help make a first digitization undertaking a success.

Cal Poly State University librarians are engaging faculty, staff and students by transforming physical and digital library spaces to better support teaching and learning. A Science Café program hosted in the Learning Commons Library Café provides informal opportunities to come together over coffee, share current faculty research, and make salient the connections that exist between the numerous and seemingly unrelated areas of study on campus: science, humanities and the social sciences. The campus institutional repository (IR), DigitalCommons@CalPoly, is an ever-growing digital archive of faculty research, student work and campus documents which has facilitated new collaborations between faculty, campus constituents and the library and has elevated the visibility of faculty and student research. Sharing of physical and digital space provides for dynamic, campus-centered programs and initiatives bringing together technology, information, and people to create a myriad of connections. These initiatives are redefining physical and digital library spaces, catalyzing renewed interest in the library and fostering communication and connections on campus.

This paper will review the findings from a research project concluded in 2004, which had the primary goal of learning more about the natural behaviors of people choosing materials for inclusion in a digital archive. Project participants, retiring faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had a number of tasks to perform. They had to 1) survey and choose the materials to include in the archive; 2) develop a “collection development plan” defining the nature of their materials, their intended audience, and the organizational scheme of their collection; 3) provide materials for digitization; 4) supply metadata for the digitized materials; and 5) write a “finding aid” for their collection. The research team digitized the materials and developed a demonstration repository website for the participants. This paper will focus on the disconnect between traditional archival theory and the users’ natural behavior; and the challenges of developing an archival collection given current digital repository software.

In a research environment, dissemination of new knowledge is an imperative. Science itself is advanced by increased access to scholarly work. However, under the current model of research dissemination, publications can only be seen by the few people who subscribe to the journal. This limits the impact of research and its ability to influence subsequent work. Creation of a central online location to manage, preserve and maintain intellectual and historical output of an institution addresses dissemination, long-term preservation and thus sustainability of institutional knowledge.