Fogler Library Friends - The OliveTree

VOLUME 19 NUMBER 2, FALL 2011

Digital Commons Coming to UMaine

With the purchase of the Digital Commons, institutional repository software from Berkeley Electronic Press, UMaine will join UMass Amherst, Cornell, Vassar, and universities nation-wide in providing an institutional repository and scholarly publishing service for our university community. Coordinated by Fogler Library, with support from the Office of the Vice President and Provost, the College of Education and Human Development, the Honors College, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Division of Lifelong Learning, the Digital Commons will provide access to the scholarly, educational, and creative works of UMaine faculty, researchers, and students. It includes a commercial grade scholarly publishing system which enables the publishing of journals, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, and other scholarship.

A custom UMaine designed web portal will offer search and browse tools, and highlight featured collections. Digital Commons@UMaine will raise the profile of our faculty, students, and programs. Work has already begun on the project and will continue throughout the fall and into the spring semester. Dean Joyce Rumery reflects on the importance of the project, “The Digital Commons will provide a way to increase the awareness of our institution. It will bring all the intellectual work of the University together in one searchable database, a database that will be open to the public and searchable by Google. This will create a powerful tool for promoting the work of our faculty.”

This service allows for customization, so faculty will be able to decide what work to include and how best to represent their research. The institutional repository can include articles, monographs, conference proceedings, photographs and images, digital collections, and archives. The project contributes to UMaine’s tripartite mission of teaching, research, and public service and will help to facilitate institutional advancement and encourage public/private partnerships and collaborations,

For more information about the Digital Commons@UMaine, contact Karen Stewart at 581-1655 or email karen.stewart@umit.maine.edu.

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