Creating Efficient and Sustainable Workflows for Scholarly Works into a DSpace Repository

In fall 2017, a team at UH Libraries piloted an expanded set of repository services, including mediated submission of faculty and student works and faculty self-submissions. The Metadata and Digitization Services department worked closely with Digital Research Services to create and implement new workflows for the batch processing and upload of faculty and student research into the UH Institutional Repository. In the 2 month pilot phase, the team added over 650 faculty and student works to the IR and is now scaling up these services.Librarie

Customized CV Service Workflows for DSpace Repositories

Slides for a presentation delivered at the North American DSpace Users Group Meeting at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, September 2019. Full workflows and service documentation available at bit.ly/UHoustonCVWorkflows. Conference abstract: The University of Houston Libraries has recently created and implemented workflows for the upload of large batches of faculty research into its DSpace Institutional Repository. These workflows are largely based on modifications made to existing scripts and open source packaging software, and were made possible through collaborative efforts with the Texas Digital Library and other DSpace institutions. This process has involved establishing new in-house metadata procedures and standards, templates for managing and sharing bibliographic data, and divisions of labor. Through the creation of these structured workflows, we have been able to scale our efforts, now employing and training a dedicated team of student employees to carry out this campus-wide service. Over a six-month span, the team has prepared over 1,300 full-text faculty works for ingest into the repository, using faculty CVs as its main source of bibliographic information. This presentation details the challenges and lessons learned from the development and refinement of these end-to-end workflows, as well as a discussion about the broader implications of establishing this option for our faculty researchers. We will package and publicly share all documentation related to this process in hopes that our efforts might inspire wider adoption of these workflows among the DSpace community.Librarie

From Meow to ROAR: Expanding Open Access Repository Services at the University of Houston Libraries

INTRODUCTION The rapidly changing scholarly communication ecosystem is placing a growing premium on research data and scholarship that is openly available. It also places a growing pressure on universities and research organizations to expand their publishing infrastructures and related services. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM To embrace the change and meet local demands, University of Houston (UH) Libraries formed a cross-departmental open access implementation team in 2017 to expand our open access repository services to accommodate a broad range of research products beyond electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). The result of this effort was the Cougar Research Open Access Repositories (Cougar ROAR), a rebranded and expanded portal to the UH Institutional Repository, and the UH Dataverse, which disseminates the full range of scholarly outputs generated at the University of Houston. This article describes the team’s phased activities, including internal preparation, a campus pilot, rebranding, and a robust outreach program. It also details the team’s specific tasks, such as building the Cougar ROAR portal, developing ROAR policies and guidelines, enhancing institutional repository functionality, conducting campus promotional activities, and piloting and scaling a campus-wide open access program. NEXT STEPS Based on the pilot project findings and the resulting recommendations, the team outlined key next steps for sustainability of the UH Libraries’ open access services: continuation of the campus CV service, establishment of campus-wide OA policy, further promotion of Cougar ROAR and assessment of OA programs and services, and investment in long-term storage and preservation of scholarly output in Cougar ROAR

Managing the Rights to Your Publications

Slideshow from a presentation given at the University of Houston Libraries on February 2, 2018, as part of its second annual "Get Ready to Publish!" scholarly publishing event for UH graduate students.Librarie

Open Scholarship Workshop

Slides from a workshop delivered Nov 16, 2018, in University of Houston Libraries' Digital Research Commons (DRC). This workshop addresses some of the core values and practices of open scholarship, primarily from a humanist perspective. The work that takes place in the DRC is predicated on a belief that we, as researchers and librarians, should be adhering to good practice around open scholarship, i.e, whenever possible, using open source tools and software (rather that propriety versions), sharing our work at all stages of the process (whenever feasible and desirable), and, once a project or a phase of a project is complete, reporting out in a public way—not only sharing our findings and “finished products” but also our methods, process, code, etc., so that as many people as possible can benefit from and build on our labor.Librarie

Agile Skunks: Interdisciplinary collaboration in support of digital research outputs

Digital research outputs are increasingly common and accepted across academic disciplines, and often constitute vital components of researcher publications and portfolios. As such, research libraries are faced with challenges around providing adequate stewardship for these products. At University of Houston Libraries, an interdisciplinary, cross-departmental team is engaged in a model of collaboration aimed at building shared understandings, workflows, and open infrastructures that provide a foundation for services that meet this need. This presentation outlines the process this team developed in working toward solutions for the preservation, access, and reuse of bespoke research outputs. Central to these efforts is understanding areas of convergence in our collective library expertise that are not often acknowledged, communicated, or fully known. This work applies principles found in OCLC’s Social interoperability in research support and Bethany Nowviskie’s skunkworks approach—principles we believe are fundamental to meeting challenges inherent to complex technological service development. We will also share our application of Agile development as an organizing tool for technical work, as well as strategies we have identified to keep us moving forward while maintaining the spirit of inquiry with which we started. By opening up this dialogue to the community, we hope to share our collaborative experience and gain feedback and perspective from others who are exploring such approaches or who may be interested or are engaged in similar inquiry.Librarie

Learning about Digital Research at UH

In this session, the Digital Research Services team will give an overview of the services we offer around digital humanities, publishing, theses and dissertations, and data archiving and sharing. We will introduce the Digital Research Commons, the home for digital research on UH campus, and share details of our fall events series. This session will help introduce you to key research tools and methods as you embark on your careers as emerging scholars

Let it ROAR: Expanding University of Houston’s Open Access Services

As part of the University of Houston (UH) Libraries’ 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, a cross-departmental implementation team was formed to expand our open access research repository services beyond electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) to include a broad range of faculty, staff, and student works. The result of this effort is Cougar Research Open Access Repositories (ROAR): a portal to the UH Institutional Repository (UHIR) and the UH Data Repository (UHDR) which host scholarly works and data generated by the UH community. This presentation details the team’s phased activities including internal preparation, pilot program, and finding and recommendations. Sub-teams were formed to carry out specific tasks, such as building the Cougar ROAR platform, developing ROAR policies and guidelines, enhancing institutional repository functions, scheduling campus promotional activities, and launching the open access pilot program. The presentation will also include strategies for gaining administrative and faculty buy-in, findings from faculty focus groups, insights into the metadata and technical considerations for the two systems, modes of deposit, training and promotion strategies, and a discussion of lessons learned. Many universities and research organizations are seeking to expand their open access repository services or migrate systems. This presentation will offer both general strategies and specific solutions that will be helpful to those and other institutions promoting new modes of scholarly communication.Librarie

Navigating Uncharted Waters

In 2019, the University of Houston Libraries formed a Theses and Dissertations Digitization Task Force charged with digitizing and making more widely accessible the University’s collection of over 19,800 legacy theses and dissertations. Supported by funding from the John P. McGovern Foundation, this initiative has proven complex and multifaceted, and one that has engaged the task force in a broad range of activities, from purchasing digitization equipment and software to designing a phased, multiyear plan to execute its charge. This plan is structured around digitization preparation (phase one), development of procedures and workflows (phase two), and promotion and communication to the project’s targeted audiences (phase three). The plan contains step-by-step actions to conduct an environmental scan, inventory the theses and dissertations collections, purchase equipment, craft policies, establish procedures and workflows, and develop digital preservation and communication strategies, allowing the task force to achieve effective planning, workflow automation, progress tracking, and procedures documentation. The innovative and creative approaches undertaken by the Theses and Dissertations Digitization Task Force demonstrated collective intelligence resulting in scaled access and dissemination of the University’s research and scholarship that helps to enhance the University’s impact and reputation