A FAQ on how to use the UQ eSpace repository

Weaver, Belinda

University of Queensland eSpace

UQ eSpace Users - Frequently Asked Questions 
What is UQ eSpace? 
UQ eSpace is The University of Queensland's institutional digital repository for research. It 
contains publications and other forms of research data, including multimedia, image 
collections and datasets, as well as 'grey' literature such as working papers and technical 
reports from schools and centres. It stores and showcases the research output of academic 
staff and postgraduate students (both past and present) at this University. It includes a range 
of subjects and disciplines. The UQ eSpace server provides free, searchable access to open 
collections of this research and manages its long-term archiving and preservation.  
Who can deposit materials in UQ eSpace? 
Current academic staff and postgraduate students of the University of Queensland may 
deposit research. Former staff and students who may wish to make use of the service should 
contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator to arrange access. Users need to log in to deposit 
materials.  
How do I log in? 
If you are a current UQ staff member or student, log in with your usual UQ name and 
password using the UQ Log in link in UQ eSpace. Other people, such as retired staff or 
former students, should contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator for information about obtaining a 
log in. You do not need to log in to browse collections, but you do need to be logged in to 
create records.  
Where do I deposit material within UQ eSpace? 
Log into UQ eSpace and then click the My UQ eSpace link on the top right of the screen. 
Click on Collections. The collection(s) to which you can contribute will be listed.  
How do I get help? 
You can read this FAQ or contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator for help on +617 3365 8281 or 
via email to espace@library.uq.edu.au  
 
I want to create my own collection. How do I do that? 
If you want to set up a new collection, please contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator.  
Why can't I set up a collection myself? 
The permissions to create collections within a Community are currently limited. However, you 
can contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator to discuss this issue. It is possible that you could be 
granted this right.  
There seem to be two collections for my school. Which should I use? 
In some cases, two (or more) collections may show up in My UQ eSpace when you log in. 
Suppose you are an academic in the School of English, Media Studies and Art History. One 
collection you will see will be called Publications of the School of English, Media Studies 
and Art History and one will be called School of English, Media Studies and Art History. 
The latter is a closed collection of material set up for one of the current UQ Research 
Assessment Trials, and contains only materials selected for that trial. The other collection is 
the open collection for publications of the school. Please deposit your work in the open 
collection.  
How do I limit access to my work? I only want my research team to see it. 
Please contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator to arrange this. 
Do I need to deposit the full text for anything I decide to store in the repository? 
No. You can just upload the citation for a publication if you wish. Full text is certainly 
welcome, but in some cases, copyright restrictions preclude the deposit of publisher versions 
of published articles, conference papers, book chapters and other publications. In those 
cases, deposits of 'author' versions of the final refereed work may be permissible. To check 
the copyright position of the major journal publishers, try consulting SHERPA. You can also 
seek advice from your school or centre liaison librarian or from the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator.  
For datasets, you can just upload descriptions of the data if you do not want to upload the full 
dataset.  
My work doesn't really fit the available models for my school - it isn't a published 
article or a book chapter. What do I do? 
It is possible to deposit work as a preprint or as a generic document. However, you are 
welcome to consult the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator about establishing a model for your work. 
Is there a limit on what formats I can deposit? 
Open access formats such as Adobe PDF, HTML or PostScript are preferred since users 
require no expensive software to access them. However, any digital format can be uploaded. 
If your format is unusual, or requires specific software to run, please state this in the Notes 
field of the record as users will then know what to do to see and use the work. 
Is there a limit on how large a file I can upload? 
File upload size is currently set at 60MB. Any file larger than that may cause the system to 
reject the record, which may cause your data not to be saved by the system. Please consult 
the the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator if you have large files to deposit. 
Can I attach more than one file to a record? 
Certainly. For a book chapter, you might want to upload your chapter, the book's table of 
contents and possibly the cover art (copyright permitting). All those objects (datastreams) will 
form part of the single record. 
Can I host non-UQ material on UQ eSpace? 
Please consult the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator to discuss this. 
Can I clone a record? I used to be able to do this in ePrintsUQ. 
Not at the moment. This feature is slated for development and should be available soon. 
Development information is stored in our Wiki. 
How do I cite the Web address of a work in UQ eSpace? 
Works in the repository - whether communities, collections or individual item records - all have 
unique identifiers in this format: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view.php?pid=UQ:n where 
n is the work's unique ID within the repository. Use that link for citations. To find an address 
for a citation, browse to the item you want and copy the URL from the address bar of your 
browser.  
Can I see my own deposits? 
We do not currently have a My Documents feature in UQ eSpace. However this feature is 
currently under consideration. Please advise the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator if you require this 
feature. At the moment, your best option is to search on your surname. 
Can I upload multimedia? 
Yes. We currently have a content model for audio and are working on a model for video. 
However, multimedia can be uploaded as a generic document since there is no restriction on 
the number or the formats of items associated with a record. 
I deposited some information into UQ eSpace for research assessment trials. Can that 
data be used for the upcoming RQF? 
Very likely. We are looking at the data we currently have with a view to reusing as much as 
possible for RQF 2008. 
My screen just went blank when I tried to deposit a work. What went wrong? 
There are a number of possibilities. In some cases, using the Internet Explorer browser 
software can cause this problem. Mozilla Firefox and Netscape work better with UQ eSpace. 
In some cases, certain special characters, such as angle brackets, can cause the system to 
reject the record. Trying to attach a file with spaces in the file name, e.g. UQ eSpace.pdf, will 
cause a blank screen, as will trying to upload a file over 60MB. Please contact the UQ 
eSpace Co-ordinator for help if this problem occurs. 
Can a single record belong to more than one collection? 
Yes. In the record, you can select more than one collection name by holding down the CTRL 
key when you click the second, third, ... collection names. 
Why does something I deposited not show up straightaway? 
Most work in the repository is checked before being finally 'published' to the open repository. 
This check is made to ensure that openly available records are as complete as possible, that 
no errors have crept in, and that any attached files comply with publisher copyright 
requirements. 
Where is the repository content indexed? 
The content is indexed in major Internet search engines such as Google. It is also harvested 
by services such as ARROW and OAIster. 
What effort does depositing require? Is it a lot of work? 
It should not take more than a few minutes to upload an item. To deposit an item, you need to 
log in. Navigate to your home collection via My UQ eSpace. Click 'Create' and then select the 
record type you wish to create, e.g. a journal article, conference paper, book chapter, image 
and so on. Be sure to choose the right option as this cannot currently be changed after the 
event. Fill in your data and click 'Submit for Approval'. An editor will then vet your record for 
completeness and for copyright clearance and make it publicly available.  
What about my older papers? Can I deposit material even if it is not currently in 
electronic form? 
Please contact the UQ eSpace Co-ordinator to discuss the digitisation of older research 
materials.  
 
Can I get figures on how often my papers are being downloaded? 
Yes, there are statistics on the web site. You can see statistics on the Top 50 papers and the 
Top 50 authors. The figures are broken up into Full Downloads and Abstract Views. The 
figures are updated overnight, not in real time. Downloads per item are listed as part of an 
item view.  
Where are my download statistics? 
Download statistics per item are stored with the item, rather than with your name as in 
ePrintsUQ. To see all your statistics, search on your surname. Download counts for abstract 
views and file downloads are stored with each item. An upgrade of the statistics functionality 
in UQ eSpace is planned for this year.  
What is measured? 
Currently, downloads by individuals are the only counts we include in our statistics. Our 
statistics service specifically excludes downloads of metadata or files by search engine 
crawlers or other automated harvesters. This may result in smaller download numbers than in 
ePrintsUQ, but the UQ eSpace counts probably represent a truer picture of actual document 
usage.  
 
Why should I deposit my research in UQ eSpace?  
Archiving work maximises the visibility and accessibility of one's research, and hence its 
usage and impact. Research freely available online is much more highly cited than work 
available only in print. (Lawrence, S. (2001) Free online availability substantially increases a 
paper's impact: Nature Web debates). 
Even if your research papers have been published in online journals, many academics and 
researchers, particularly those from poorer institutions or from developing countries, will still 
not be able to read them, because of access barriers such as passwords, subscription costs, 
licensing agreements or IP restrictions. This means your research may not reach many 
people who might otherwise be interested in using it and citing it. Its presence in an open 
repository archive such as UQ eSpace guarantees your work can reach a truly global 
audience on a scale impossible to achieve on paper. This maximises the impact of your work 
within the global academic community.  
Depositing research datasets guarantees their safekeeping. It also makes it possible for other 
researchers to use your data in their own research, which helps world scholarship. Data 
curation is increasingly seen as important by government and funding bodies such as the 
ARC. Using UQ eSpace to store your research data can help you comply with these new 
requirements of grant-making bodies.  
Why do I need to deposit work here when my papers are already archived by the online 
journals in which they are published? 
While many journal publishers are creating online archives of published articles, there is no 
guarantee that this material will be available and accessible long term. Also, if library 
subscriptions to journals lapse, there is no guarantee that UQ researchers will still have 
access to the materials covered by earlier subscriptions. Also, as those sites reorganise, 
URLs may change. UQ eSpace can guarantee you long-term access and secure storage with 
permanent URLs for any work deposited.  
What has happened to ePrintsUQ? 
ePrintsUQ is still operating as a storehouse for UQ research publications. No further content 
can be added to it. All the content has been successfully migrated to UQ eSpace, so some 
materials are currently housed in both repositories. Since people may have recorded the 
URLs of ePrintsUQ deposits, we are keeping ePrintsUQ going until we can redirect all 
existing ePrintsUQ URLs to their new UQ eSpace addresses. In time, ePrintsUQ will be 
decommissioned, but that will not occur for some time. 
Why did you move from ePrintsUQ to UQ eSpace? 
In ePrintsUQ, we stored deposits of publications in a single collection. However, publications 
form only a minor part of the research output of this university. We needed a system that 
could accommodate more than just publications - one that could house datasets, image 
libraries, multimedia and other research materials, all with different metadata and different 
subject classification needs, and all housed in different communities and collections with very 
different security rules. UQ eSpace gives us that flexibility. In addition, UQ eSpace provides 
us with preservation metadata to enable us to keep your data sustainably over the long term. 
We are also using UQ eSpace for research assessment trials and will use it to deliver some of 
the functionality required for the RQF. 
How secure is my work? 
The repository is backed up every day on to the Library's Storage Area Network.  
How long will my work be kept? 
UQ eSpace cannot guarantee your work will be saved 'forever'. However we do guarantee 
that we will keep it for a long time. We currently apply preservation metadata to all deposited 
work - this is an XML stream attached to the object that provides the necessary information 
about the object to preserve it and keep it usable. We may migrate some deposited work to 
new formats as formats change or become obsolete.  
 What about copyright? 
The author holds the copyright for any pre-refereed pre-print, so that version can be self-
archived without seeking anyone's permission. For refereed post-prints, it all depends on 
what rights you transferred to the journal publisher when you signed a contract with them. 
Check your contract. Some publishers do not ask for exclusivity; some seek to use the 
material only under license. Should copyright have been fully transferred to the publisher, 
authors can use UQ eSpace's sample permissions letter to ask for permission to deposit a 
copy in the archive. (Many publishers also have an email permissions form on their Web Site, 
which is quicker.) For future contracts, authors can try to modify the copyright transfer 
agreement to allow such archiving by including a clause such as 'I retain the right to distribute 
my paper for free for scholarly/scientific purposes, in particular, the right to self-archive it 
publicly online in a Web-based institutional repository such as UQ eSpace 
(http://espace.uq.edu.au/).' Failing that, authors can deposit a corrigenda file (a file explaining 
changes between pre- and post-print versions) to accompany an already archived pre-print. 
The UQ eSpace Co-ordinator can advise you about copyright issues. More information on 
publisher policies about copyright and permissions can be found at SHERPA, though these 
should not be taken as final. Journal publisher policies in this area are constantly evolving.  
 
Is UQ eSpace OAI-compliant? 
Yes. The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) develops and promotes interoperability standards to 
facilitate the efficient dissemination of content. The OAI championed scholarly digital 
repositories as a means of increasing the ongoing availability of scholarly communications. 
Since UQ eSpace complies with these standards, information about the works deposited in 
our archive is open access and can be harvested, for example, by Internet search engines or 
by cross-archive search tools such as OAIster. Open access greatly increases the visibility of 
your research.  
What is UQ eSpace's base URL for OAI harvesters? 
The URL is http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/oai.php 
 


UQ eSpace Users - Frequently Asked Questions

http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:12906/espace_faq.pdf

UQ eSpace Users - Frequently Asked Questions

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