Policies

Statement of Collecting Interest

Digital Commons @ St. Norbert College provides a platform by which the scholarly and creative output of the college is made readily available and accessible for the greater and enduring good. The range of content in the repository is broad and adaptable, both in format and in purpose, some examples are posted below, but they are by no means exclusive:

  • scholarly books and articles
  • collaborative research
  • independent research
  • documents, records, photographs, articles, audio-visual materials, publications, manuscripts and scrapbooks that document the history of the college
  • teaching materials (public domain or open access online)
  • theses / dissertations
  • creative works (poetry, creative fiction, creative nonfiction, music, art)
  • faculty or administration meeting minutes
  • faculty and student handbooks

Copyright Statement

The ownership and author’s rights of each work remains with the owner. The act of submission gives the repository the nonexclusive right to distribute the submission in electronic format in perpetuity and in no way transfers any ownership rights to the repository.

The submitter agrees that he or she has the right to submit from the copyright holder and that the work does not infringe on anyone else’s rights.

The board accepts and highly recommends the use of Creative Commons licensing in addition to copyright.

Statement of Withdrawal

The repository is designed to be an archive. However, in rare instances the Digital Commons advisory board reserves the right to remove from public view any item from the repository should any issue arise from an infringement of copyright or any other intellectual property statute, or other issues including, but not limited to: invasion of privacy, falsified research, or issues of national security. In such cases, the advisory board will conduct an investigation and after due process, the submitter will be informed of the action taken and the record of the item will stay in the repository with a note about the action.

Statement of Responsibilities

Responsibilities of a Contributor

In submitting work to Digital Commons @ St. Norbert College, the submitter has the opportunity to be a part of an initiative which will capture, curate and preserve the intellectual spirit of the St. Norbert College community. In order to guarantee quality, all submitters are required to submit their work with full descriptions:

Descriptive Data (Metadata) by Type of Submission
Essay, Article or Book Title Author Abstract Publication Information
Media (Photograph, Artwork or Video) Creation Date Description Keywords Copyright or Creative Commons notice
Archival Material Contributor Description Provenance Original format (film, manuscript, etc.)
Online Educational Resource Description Publication Information Keywords Copyright or Creative Commons notice

The submitter must hold either the copyright of the submitted work or have permission of the copyright holder(s). [For help obtaining permission for previous published materials, please contact the librarian for more resources.]

For ongoing submissions as head editor of a journal or head of an office, center, or discipline, please see the responsibilities of an administrator found below.

Responsibilities of an Administrator

An administrator has the opportunity to build and maintain their collection or journal in conjunction with bepress (originally Berkeley Electronic Press) and the librarian. The administrator is responsible for helping recruit content for their collection or journal and coordinating with each submitter to ensure excellence and uphold the intellectual property rights of each piece submitted. Administrators will also receive training from bepress and the librarian to help fulfill the responsibilities of this role.

Responsibilities of the Librarian for Archives and Special Collections

The librarian’s role is to promote Digital Commons @ St. Norbert College and to help educate others and demonstrate its many benefits to the campus. The librarian acts as liaison for the college and the bepress platform. She offers support to both submitters and administrators as they populate the commons with high quality content by coordinating training sessions in the bepress platform; educating about intellectual property rights; and assisting with all repository related queries.

The librarian also works in conjunction with the Digital Commons advisory board to help recruit quality content for the repository, coordinate submissions, and conduct information sessions across campus.