Digital UNC
About Digital UNC
Digital UNC is a digital repository service offered by the University Libraries to capture, store, organize, index, preserve, and provide access to examples of the University of Northern Colorado's information resources and intellectual output. It brings together selected digital materials currently in existence throughout the campus in order to create a cohesive and sustainable repository of the educational, scholarly, research, and historical assets of the University.
Digital UNC is the University of Northern Colorado's implementation of the Alliance Digital Repository (ADR), a consortial digital repository service offered by the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. The Alliance envisions the ADR as an infrastructure for supporting a diverse set of applications, services, and discovery tools that offer long-term management, secure storage, preservation solutions, and open access to digital assets to be determined by the individual Alliance member institutions. The ADR uses open-source software tools.
Digital UNC supports the teaching and research missions and enhances the visibility and reputation of the University by encouraging intellectual curiosity, facilitating access to information, and showcasing the work of the University's schools, departments, and individuals. The repository is used to provide open access to scholarly work, to publicly disseminate the results of agency-funded projects, to facilitate access to the University's resources by prospective students, and to provide long-term preservation of digital collections.
FAQ for Content Creators
1. Who manages Digital UNC?
Digital UNC is managed by the UNC Libraries. Policies and procedures, including file naming and descriptive standards, are set according to guidelines that apply to the entire Alliance Digital Repository project.
2. How is Digital UNC organized?
Materials added to Digital UNC are organized into “collections” – groups of related digital objects. Any University-affiliated entity may request creation of a collection.
3. What types of materials are appropriate for inclusion in Digital UNC?
Digital UNC is a repository of the educational, scholarly, research, and historical assets of the University. Appropriate materials include: official University documents; images, documents, audio files, and video files from archival collections; teaching materials created by UNC faculty members; faculty publications including journal articles, book chapters, books, scholarly book reviews, conference publications and presentations, artistic creations, and data sets; student work including electronic dissertations, theses, and honors papers.
4. How do I initiate the addition of an item into Digital UNC?
Contact Lisa Blankenship, Digital Projects Librarian, at (970)669-8749 or by email to lisa.blankenship@unco.edu.
5. How do users find items in Digital UNC?
Items in Digital UNC can be found through the Alliance Digital Repository search interface as well as through freely available internet search engines. Search engines will find items more easily if complete and accurate descriptors are supplied, and if full access is allowed.
6. What responsibilities do I have, as an author or creator, for digital objects added to Digital UNC?
Content authors or creators are responsible for verifying that digital objects comply with copyright and privacy laws.
7. Can I get things digitized for addition to Digital UNC?
Digitization of materials is the responsibility of the author or creator, or of the unit responsible for the content of a collection.
8. How do I describe my work in Digital UNC?
You will be required to create basic descriptive data at the time your items are contributed to the repository. More extensive and/or technical description may be done by the Libraries.
9. Can items be edited once they are in Digital UNC?
Yes, authors or creators can request that a revised version replace an existing item in Digital UNC. In addition, the Libraries may edit descriptive data as the need arises.
10. Can I control who has access to my digital objects in Digital UNC?
Yes. However, authors or creators are encouraged to allow broad access and to make information available as widely as possible.
11. Do I give up my rights when I deposit things into Digital UNC?
No. The author or creator retains the copyright for all content posted in Digital UNC unless it has been previously assigned to someone else. Depositors are free to reuse content elsewhere.
12. What file formats can be deposited into Digital UNC?
Digital UNC is able to accept any file format as long as it is not a hostile file or format (viruses, spyware, and the like. Preferred formats include PDF (for text documents) and JPEG or TIFF (for images).
13. What file formats will be supported in Digital UNC over the long term?
Digital UNC will support the viewers, players, and other software used for specific file formats identified and supported by the Alliance Digital Repository.
14. Can I remove things that have been put into Digital UNC?
Authors or creators may request that an item be withdrawn from public access or deleted from the repository; however, the Libraries may determine whether or not items will be withdrawn. Since any Digital UNC item that has existed at some time may have been cited, the system will supply a "tombstone" to verify its previous existence when the item is removed. This “tombstone” will include the original metadata plus a statement indicating why the object is no longer available to the public. Any links to the object within the repository will be removed.
15. How long will things remain in Digital UNC?
UNC is committed to Digital UNC as an archival resource for the University community and thus will endeavor to preserve its content in perpetuity. Content will remain in Digital UNC or be migrated to newer systems as they develop in the future.
16. How does Digital UNC preserve my content?
The Alliance Digital Repository will work within evolving “best practices” to be responsible stewards and will work to preserve the metadata and supported digital and media objects, including those within Digital UNC. This includes maintaining a file transition and migration plan for file formats.
17. What happens to the content in Digital UNC if the Alliance Digital Repository should cease to exist?
The Alliance will return to UNC all digital content deposited within the Alliance Digital Repository following a mutually agreed upon format, method, and timeline.
18. Are there space quotas in Digital UNC?
UNC receives an annual space allocation within the Alliance Digital Repository. Any storage requirements beyond this allocation will require additional funding. The Libraries will work with Digital UNC users to identify annual space needs, and to develop strategies to seek funding to meet these needs.
For More Information
Contact:
Lisa Blankenship, Digital Projects Librarian
Michener Library 115
(970) 351-1521
lisa.blankenship@unco.edu
