The 2022 Digital Commons North American Conference was held online November 9-10, 2022. Conference recordings are available below.
View 2022 contents by day:
2022: A Digital Commons Odyssey
Full Agenda
Day 1- Wednesday, November 9th, 2022
A Warm Welcome
Ann Connolly, Digital Commons
Session 1
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Digital Commons Galaxy: The Product Roadmap
Ann Connolly, Luca Belletti, Promita Chatterji, and Saad Khan of Digital Commons
The Digital Commons product team will share overviews of the roadmaps for each of the Digital Commons modules.
Session 2
3-2-1-Launch! Building Out-of-this-World Exhibits with DCX
Ann Connolly, Digital Commons
Heidi Benedict and Susan McMullen, Roger Williams University
Erica Finch, Utah State University
Want to explore new worlds for your outstanding collections? Need a way to keep all your institutions’ exhibits within the orbit of the library? Learn from some of the Digital Commons community’s intrepid DCX explorers who are traveling to where no one has gone before to create out-of-this-world exhibits!
Session 3.1 & 3.2-Two CONCURRENT Sessions
Light Years of Lightning Talks: IR Stories from the DC Community
Join us for a series of inspirational and educational lightning talks by members of the Digital Commons community, for members of the Digital Commons community. We have so many amazing stories to share that we added a concurrent session! All our conference sessions will be recorded and session 3.1 will use the same Zoom link as the previous sessions in the day. A new Zoom link for the concurrent IR stories session, 3.2, will be shared here on the site, via email, and during the conference.
Light Years of Lightning Talks - Session 3.1
Promita Chatterji, Digital Commons
Jonathan Jiras, Rowan University
Content Type Statistics for a Digital Commons Repository
We wanted a simple view of what content types were in each collection of our DC repository. We did not see such a report in the Administrative Dashboard, so we wrote one. Our application harvests data via OAI, parses it to JSON via Python, and presents it in a reactive UI.
Lee Dotson, Bobby Ciullo, Lily Dubach, Kerri Bottorff, University of Central Florida
Textbook Affordability + WordPress + DC API = Unique eTextbook Portal Collaboration
As part of a textbook affordability initiative, the University of Central Florida Libraries sought ways to inform students that hundreds of required textbooks are available for free as library eTextbooks. When other methods did not include necessary information such as a link to the eTextbook or other details, a secondary method was investigated: creating an eTextbook Portal. An eTextbook Portal serves as a searchable webpage to help students locate eTextbooks that match their courses. A collaboration between the institutional repository, textbook affordability, and web services produced this creative solution to organize and share information for each eTextbook using Digital Commons to host the content. Utilizing a book gallery with customized metadata fields and the Batch Upload File Manager for adding cover images, each eTextbook has its own record and thumbnail image stored in the institutional repository. The goal of providing students with a quick, intuitive approach to locating the information and accessing the eTextbooks was made possible through the magic of the Digital Commons API, CSS styling, and a webpage designed to pull the information stored in the institutional repository to create the eTextbook Portal.
Karen Ramsden and Darren Sweeper, Montclair State University
Red Hawks Soar!: Showcasing our Unique Collections to Engage the University Community and Beyond
The purpose of our presentation is to share our experiences in building relationships in order to create several unique and socially relevant collections in the Montclair State University Digital Commons. We will discuss issues related to community engagement, outreach and librarian liaison work undertaken to form new partnerships. During this process we learned how to adapt to change and how to find new ways to innovate, create and collaborate in order to demonstrate the value of the library, while promoting faculty research and our students’ scholarly activities, in support of the Strategic Plan of the University. In our presentation, we will discuss how we created Personas from the results of our research study to identify faculty members to use as a guide when evaluating services and outreach. We will address the process of promoting the repository to the campus community at large, and everything in between from the planning stages to the continued growth and sustainability of the repository. As this evolving culture of research is embraced throughout the University, the need for a vibrant, adaptable, and creative use of the repository becomes just as crucial as an IR’s archival capabilities, especially when impacting the University’s strategic vision and mission.
Adam Duguay, Sheridan College
Showcasing and Tracking UN Sustainable Development Goals Through Your Repository
In 2021, Sheridan became Ontario’s first post-secondary institution to sign the SDG Accord, the sector’s collective international response to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By signing the accord Sheridan committed to contributing, tracking, and bringing awareness to the SDGs. SOURCE, Sheridan’s institutional repository was identified as an ideal platform to highlight and further disseminate the scholarship, research and creative activities produced at Sheridan that align and further the SDGs. By developing an easy-to-use workflow, we were able to create a system that highlights and showcases existing and upcoming SDG contributions that can be discovered by other academic intuitions and the international community.
Ellen Neuhaus, University of Northern Iowa
Impact Stories: Global Feedback Demonstrating the Reach and Impact of Your IR
Libraries and higher education institutions have to show the value of their services, resources, and programs to their stakeholders. The University of Northern Iowa Rod Library implemented a Global Feedback Form (Google form) throughout the institution’s IR and now receives regular feedback from global users. We receive regular impact stories from global users informing us how specific works posted to the repository have affected or benefited them. This has allowed us to share impact stories with campus administration and other stakeholders, showing the reach and impact of campus programs and departments. For example, a graduate student said, “I am from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am doing my thesis titled 'Exploring the nature of intersectionality and its impact on education'. I searched a lot but didn't get any quality resources on this topic. But finally, I found this work of Petersen which provides me a guideline to continue my work. I am really thankful to the authority for this open access to this tremendous work. Thanks a lot.” We have closed the assessment loop by compiling the feedback in a Global Feedback Report which is archived in UNI ScholarWorks so campus administrators and other stakeholders have access to the stories. Each time feedback is received, we send the story to the related stakeholders - dean of the college, department head, and faculty advisor - so they can see the reach and impact of their department and program.
Light Years of Lightning Talks - Session 3.2
Luca Belletti, Digital Commons
Rachel Evans, University of Georgia Law Library & Law School
Avoiding Total Eclipses in Your Repository: Leveraging Grants, Digitization, Consortia-OAI Harvesting, Digital Exhibits & PR Campaigns
Over the course of the last two years the University of Georgia School of Law and Library have pursued a variety of grant funding opportunities to increase digitization efforts of our special collections and archives. This lightning talk will touch on the grant writing process, discussing our rejections and successes, and give takeaways to others interested in digitization grants. This talk will culminate in the relationship building our grant writing has helped facilitate including the continued resource sharing with state and nation-wide partners the Digital Library of Georgia and Digital Public Library of America. Another practical takeaway will include the OAI harvesting used so that attendees are left with the Digital Commons documentation consulted as a primary resource to reformat our IR series URLs for successful ingest by the Digital Library of Georgia.
Erin Rushton and Caitlin Holton, Binghamton University Libraries
Collaborative IR projects with the Campus Community
There is a growing interest from departments and organizations on campus to use our Institutional Repository (IR), the ORB, to host creative works, digital publications, and supplemental materials for projects. Recently we began working with Harpur Palate, our University's acclaimed national literary journal, to support the digitization of their archives and to make these archives available through the IR. We will discuss how we provided access to our Digitization Lab to support the digitization of back issues and how we trained Harpur Palate staff to create metadata and submit content in the IR. By developing a workflow that defines the roles and responsibilities of the Libraries vs. those of contributors, we hope to have more collaborations with the campus community and expand the scope of the IR.
Jacob Nunnally, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
10 Years and Counting: Law Journals at Hofstra University
We at Hofstra University School of Law are approaching 10 years on bepress Digital Commons and recently hit 3 million downloads. The purpose of my lightning talk is to discuss the IR architecture of our four law journals. One fairly unique thing we do at Hofstra is scan and upload the cover of each journal issue so that the online experience is identical to the print experience. It also makes each issue's landing page look pretty!
Ashley D.R. Sergiadis and Kyle Johnson, East Tennessee State University
Opting Out of Opting In: Switching Our Profile Workflow to Include Every University Faculty Member
Starting this semester, Charles C. Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) began shifting our SelectedWorks service model from an opt-in (we create profiles for faculty who send us their CV) process to a quicker and easier opt-out (we create profiles for all faculty) model. Our lightning talk will provide an overview of this opt-out model and how we laid the groundwork for its success. We started by engendering support amongst the Deans, Faculty Senate, and University Research Council, detailing the benefits of a university-wide profile service and assuaging any fears or concerns that an opt-out model might generate regarding utility and privacy. We also undertook a substantial harvesting project as part of this project using Digital Common's PubMed and Scopus integration to harvest thousands of ETSU-affiliated records into our repository. We create these "instant profiles" by aggregating publicly assessable information (such as contact information, education, etc.) from available sources such as university departmental pages, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, etc. to complete their "About" information without needing a copy of their CV. We then import all available works into the profile from the aforementioned harvesting project. Once completed, we email the faculty member in question and give them two weeks to accept or decline their profile before going "live." This will greatly expand the reach of our department's service and further integrate our portion of the library into the academic community of the university.
Rachel Walton, Rollins College
Considering CV Review as an IR Service for Faculty: Is it worth it? The Perspective of A Small Liberal Arts College
CV Deposit is a high-touch service portal wherein faculty submit their CV to library staff who in turn complete all of the rights checking, publisher contact, and other review needed to make faculty work available openly within the IR. This kind of function is intended for faculty who are interested in depositing the whole of their scholarly body of work into the IR and requires a dedicated team of library professionals to execute fully. My lightning talk will introduce the concept of CV Deposit and Review, with a discussion of the existing literature, and outline the below positives and negatives of such a service model for a library of our size.
Negatives -- such a concierge-like offering may be overwhelming and unmanageable
Positives -- the chance to increase the discoverability and openness of faculty research and integrate with other OA outreach efforts across campus.
Finally, my talk will end with some real-world feedback from librarian liaisons at my small liberal arts college who offer insights (encouraging and critical) about whether CV review is a viable service model for our campus community.
Day 2- Thursday, November 10, 2022
Session 1
DC All-Stars
Aaron Doran, Benny Nyikos, Elizabeth Jennings, Jennifer Pesetsky, and Jessica Robles of Digital Commons
In this community-favorite event, we celebrate the creativity and successes of the DC Community. Four IR and journal superstars are recognized for their unique journeys and best-practices in building thriving IR and journals programs.
Session 2
Research Data Management: We Have Liftoff!
Luca Belletti, Digital Commons
Join us for an out-of-this-world RDM journey to DC Data and beyond.
Session 3
Reaching for the Stars: A Publishing Roundtable
Promita Chatterji, Digital Commons
Ellen Amatangelo, Brigham Young University
Graig Donini, HCA Journal of Medicine
Kyle Morgan, Cal Poly Humboldt Library
Join a group of DC editors and publishers in a conversation about building impactful journals and publishing programs. Topics of discussion include:
- Professionalize your journals: key actions to take
- What to consider when launching a library publishing program
- How to prepare your journal for the indexing process
- Marketing and social media
- Next Generation journals: new trends in the journal landscape
Session 4.1 & 4.2-Two CONCURRENT Sessions
Light Years of Lightning Talks: IR Stories from the DC Community
Join us for a series of inspirational and educational lightning talks by members of the Digital Commons community, for members of the Digital Commons community. We have so many amazing stories to share that we added a concurrent session! All our conference sessions will be recorded and session 4.1 will use the same Zoom link as the previous sessions in the day. A new Zoom link for the concurrent IR stories session, 4.2, will be shared here on the site, via email, and during the conference.
Light Years of Lightning Talks - Session 4.1
Ann Connolly, Digital Commons
Reagan L. Grimsley, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Promoting Undergraduate Research Via Digital Commons: UAH Research or Creative Experience for Undergraduates (RCEU) Program
Identifying campus partners who will benefit from the Digital Commons Institutional Repository is a crucial part of the implementation process. At the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the Research or Creative Experience for Undergraduates, or RCEU, is a robust summer program which produces high quality research. Working with the UAH Director of Undergraduate Research, we were able to migrate these posters from their prior digital home and create a unique collection of undergraduate research materials which both highlight and showcase the summer academic research of our students. We were also able to ingest the project proposals, which show the work process of both faculty mentors and students. Digital Commons offers a much higher level of visibility than our old platform and a greater circulation of this specific work product.
Greg Murphy and Eddie Cruz, Pace University
Publishing the Publishing Theses
We recently uploaded almost 1,000 theses from the Publishing department at Pace University utilizing the bulk upload system. I will be talking about this project, copyright concerns regarding theses, metadata challenges, and access control to the collection.
Helena “Lena” Marvin, University of Missouri-St. Louis
OER in the DCX
Open Educational Resources look great in Digital Commons, and fantastic in a Digital Commons Exhibit. At my institution we found out what OER was being used by which instructors and using the power of the five Rs of OER, we're retraining and redistributing those OERs in our IR and showcasing them in DCX. I'll explain how and why you should too!
Todd Seguin, Western Kentucky University
Connecting with the Community: Genealogical Resources in the IR
Genealogy materials are a popular request at Western Kentucky University’s Special Collections Library. Between 2018 and 2020, librarians and staff worked together to upload three regional genealogical newsletters to expand access and address university wide strategic initiatives. We will look at the download numbers and locations to draw some conclusions about the popularity and success of this project.
Heidi J. Southworth, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mapping South Central Minnesota: An Aerial Photograph Digitization Project
In 2021, a team consisting of Evan Rusch (Government Documents/Reference and Instruction Librarian), Nicole Smith (Maps Technician), Heidi Southworth (Digital Initiatives Librarian), and student workers Britney Hartmann, Samuel Lemma, Jasmyne Fisher began digitization of 27,441 unique aerial photographs. These aerial photographs are from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) District 7 covering south central Minnesota from 1957-2006. They are housed in the Dr. Mary T. Dooley Map Library at Minnesota State University, Mankato. These photographs are heavily utilized by students and faculty in our geography and engineering departments and by other researchers who visit our campus. Through digitization, we have not only aided in their preservation but expanded access to these unique materials, making them available to a global audience for study. Now, one year later, we have successfully digitized 32.47% of the collection and have added 18% of the photographs to our institutional repository, Cornerstone. This lightning talk will share this unique and complex project and show the new interactive ArcGIS map that Graduate Assistant Ira Raber created that is found on the gallery’s home page and updated as we add digitized photographs.
Jackie Werner, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
2 Good 2 Be 4Gotten: Virtual "Yearbooks" on the DigitalCommons
After COVID disrupted campus life at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, DO student yearbooks were discontinued. In response, librarians and the campus photographer collaborated to preserve the wealth of photography for future generations on the DigitalCommons. This talk will cover the opportunities and challenges of this ongoing project.
Light Years of Lightning Talks - Session 4.2
Luca Belletti, Digital Commons
Amanda Schwartz, MLIS, Providence
Peer Review Validation: A Helpful Process for Tracking Scholarly Activity
After successful and ongoing use of Providence Digital Commons as a system-wide research repository, an ask from research administrators determined a new repository goal: tracking peer reviewed publications. In early 2021, administrators in our system research department requested a way to track existing and future peer reviewed publications captured on our institutional repository. Library staff formulated a plan to run reports collecting publications on the repository, cross-comparing titles against databases and searching publisher sites to confirm peer review status. Library staff organized information into cumulative and monthly reporting documents. Gathering information about peer reviewed versus non-peer reviewed publications took substantial staff time to complete. After the initial list was completed, it was unveiled to research administration and well-received as a form of tracking and validating scholarly output on the repository. While this project is live, it remains in its early stages. In the future, library staff hopes to refine the work flow it created.
Tabitha Y. Samuel, MLIS, Medical University of South Carolina
The Opened Door: Building Author Engagement through Tailored Information Sessions and Developing an Author Toolkit
Obtaining institutional commitment and “buy-in” for a repository based at an academic health sciences institution has significant rewards for the institution and its authors. Achieving this, however, can be challenging given the professional and academic demands of the institution’s authors, ranging from students to clinicians. Building author buy-in and commitment starts with engagement. In this lightning talk, the Digital Archivist of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) will discuss MUSC’s strategies for building its engagement with its authors, including offering departmental information sessions and developing its author toolkit, and the relationships across the university that have resulted from its efforts to garner increased buy-in for its institutional repository, MEDICA@MUSC.
Steven J. Moore, MSLIS, Sladen Library, Henry Ford Health
Dashboard Confessional: Moving Behind-the-Scenes Metrics to the Spotlight
Now in its fourth year as an institutional repository, Henry Ford Health’s Scholarly Commons has hit its stride, gaining more internal and external readers than ever before. This spring I created and executed a marketing campaign to showcase to Henry Ford Health medical education and hospital leadership the tools in Scholarly Commons that are available to track scholarly activity and promote their research. A primary focus is the repository dashboard, a behind-the-scenes look at usage metrics on a specific department's authors and their works. In this lightning talk I will share my campaign strategy, the tools I used to create promotional materials, tips for vying for attention of busy physicians, and the results of this promotional effort.
Ashley N. Chu, Taylor University
Showcasing Archives-Inspired Undergraduate Student Artwork in Digital Commons Exhibits
Last year, Taylor University commemorated its 175th anniversary, and academic departments were encouraged to incorporate aspects of Taylor history into their course content where applicable. A first-time collaboration between the Archives and Art departments resulted in a multifaceted experience where students designed a work of art based on historical research using IR digital heritage collections. The artwork was exhibited on campus near the Archives and through a Digital Commons Exhibit.
Alice Sherwood, The Texas Medical Center Library
Bringing Open Access Peer-Reviewed Journals to the Community and Beyond: Using DigitalCommons@TMC As Example
Open Access Journals through its novel initiative is committed to bring forth genuine and reliable scientific contributions to the relevant community. DigitalCommons@TMC currently has 8 open-access, peer-reviewed journals in various medical disciplines, with the first one, Family Preservation Journal started in 1995, and the most recent, Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics launched this past summer. With a a LibGuide, "DigitalCommons@TMC Start Guide" and collaboration with faculty and staff with supporting institutions, this is a platform to encourage faculty/staff/student publication, share research for the community and beyond.
Session 5
Feedback Session
Elizabeth Kaesmann and Saad Khan, Digital Commons
A feedback session where DC users can meet the DC team, ask questions, network, and share feedback as a group.
View by day using the links below: