Best Practices and Policy in Institutional Repository Development: Kalamazoo College’s Experience Stacy Nowicki. Ph.D. “Scholarly Collaboration and Small Colleges in the Digital Age” Pomona College, 11 January 2008

Why Make Policies? - 1 Clarify a complex project Justify the project (why we are spending money on this?) Establish guidelines Plan procedures (eliminate bad precedents!)

Why Make Policies? - 2 Ensure efficiency Time management Diversify workload (balance with good data management) Opportunity to get input and create “buzz”

All of Which is Very Boring

Why Make Policies? - 3 The real reason: without policies, we’re herding cats!

Moral of the Story An effective policy document is the foundation of an efficient, structured project

Kalamazoo College Policies …help yourself!

Before You Start: Preparation is a Roadmap

Where Are We Going? What is an institutional repository? What do we want to use it for? What will it do for us (what is its purpose – what justifies this)?

How Are We Getting There? Who takes care of the institutional repository? –Who is the administrator? –Will there be an oversight committee? (If so, whom?) Who will write the policies? –The Administrator? –A Committee? –A mix?

What To Take When Traveling What kinds of documents do we need? –Policies –License agreements/Copyright forms –Instructions on how to upload and catalog materials –Metadata definitions

Now That We Have a Map… Let’s build the vehicle!

Six Exciting Slides!!! Questions to Answer in a Policy Document: Six Exciting Slides!!!

Questions to Answer in a Policy Document - 1 Why do we need a policy document? What does this document do? Who will write this document? –The DSpace administrator? –A committee? Who will revise this document? How often?

Questions to Answer in a Policy Document - 2 How will Sub-Communities and Collections be made? By whom? Who can deposit materials? Whose stuff can be in there? What kind of stuff can be in there?

Questions to Answer in a Policy Document - 3 What are the rights and responsibilities of: –General administrators? –Collection administrators? –Community administrators? –Library/Technical Services?

Questions to Answer in a Policy Document - 4 What are our guidelines for preservation and access? What are our strategies? What are our guidelines for withdrawal? What are our copyright guidelines?

Questions to Answer in a Policy Document - 5 What is the workflow for: –Submission? –Cataloging? What file formats will we support? To what file size should we limit submissions?

Questions to Answer in a Policy Document - 6 What are our privacy and confidentiality guidelines? (Especially for student work) What is our process for getting authors to sign/commit to our license agreement? How will our institutional repository be organized? (What are others doing?)

I’m Overwhelmed! Where do I start? Look at what others have done. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Adapt.

People to Involve - 1 Why? Creates a sense of community ownership Creates “buy in” Taps into hidden expertise Distribute workload!

People to Involve - 2 College Archivist preservation and access developing guidelines for file formats and sizes Information Technology or graphics staff help develop guidelines for file formats and sizes Cataloger metadata expert

People to Involve - 3 Dean of Students copyright guidelines for students policies involving student work Administrative Assistants Will this project fit into their workload? Who has the technological skills to work with DSpace? Faculty If they don’t believe in the project, they won’t use it, and they won’t encourage their students to use it, either.

The “K” Way in 8 Easy Steps Establish administrator (who…me?) 2.Define what the IR is, what it’s for 3.Write policies/“ideal” workflow plan 4.Establish a group of representatives from all parts of the college

The “K” Way in 8 Easy Steps Send policies around to group for input 6.Meet with group for suggestions 7.Write directions (“how to” materials) 8.Start practicing!

Off to the IR Superhighway

Remember to… Follow your own policy document!

Other Documents Non-Exclusive Distribution License – –Authors retain copyright, but K College can upload and distribute a copy Metadata –What’s required or optional –Communities, collections, items –What metadata elements mean

Contact Me Stacy Nowicki Library Director, Kalamazoo College