What is NCSU Doing?

The NCSU Libraries has developed the Digital Repository in response to the growth of digital scholarship being generated at NC State University. It provides access to digital scholarly materials created by NC State faculty, graduate students, and researchers. Repositories complement existing systems of scholarly communication, creating new opportunities for scholars worldwide to freely access research that would otherwise be inaccessible. Many academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have established similar repositories.

An Advisory Council has been established to guide the creation of repository policies and services, in an advisory capacity to the Vice Provost and Director of Libraries and the University Library Committee.

One purpose of the repository is to increase the visibility of NC State scholarship. It includes both bibliographic citations and full-text content. A number of studies have shown that journal articles that are openly available on the Internet are cited more frequently than articles not openly available. Placing material in the repository does not alter a work's copyright ownership.

Content in the repository is accessible via web search engines such as Google. The repository infrastructure is capable of holding many different types of materials-articles, chapters, books, technical reports, patents, and conference papers, as well as associated data files, including audio and video. The Libraries is committed to maintaining the repository contents indefinitely with a permanent, citable URL for each item.

As part of the NCSU Libraries Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age (LRCDA), the Digital Scholarship & Publishing Center supports the university's research, teaching, and service mission by guiding both the Libraries and NC State's faculty, students, and staff in matters relating to the dissemination and use of knowledge. We strongly encourage and support the role of the research library in the scholarly communication process, including the exercise of full rights under the fair use section of the copyright law.

The NCSU Libraries' Digital Scholarship Projects part of the Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age (LRCDA). The Center is developing a program to facilitate the Libraries' collaboration with faculty members who are engaged in creating and publishing digital scholarly content.

NCSU has developed a copyright policy that seeks to balance the legitimate rights and responsibilities of the university, its faculty, staff, and students in order to encourage a scholarly atmosphere that enhances NC State's ability to meet its tripartite mission of teaching, research, and service.

The NCSU Libraries has developed an innovative collection of digital holdings. These holdings represent a wide array of scholarly materials, ranging from classic literature to scientific manuscripts. One of the most interesting pieces of the NCSU Libraries' digital collection is the Synthesis Series (pdf). The subscription to the Synthesis Series is just one example of NCSU Libraries' attempt to identify and encourage innovative digital publishing models.