1. Scholarly Communication Librarian Northeastern University
New Roles for Technical Services Staff in Supporting a Digital Repository
Hillary Corbett
Scholarly Communication Librarian
Northeastern University
November 30, 2011

2. A Little About Me I have a Technical Services background…
I started at Northeastern in 2005 as a supervisor of copy cataloging, serials management, and physical processing, managing 5 support staff.
In 2009 I moved from Tech Services into the newly created position of Scholarly Communication Librarian.
Now I have no staff but I still need help!

3. Some Libraries Have… Digital Repository Manager
Digital Repository Resident
Digital Repository Librarian
Digital Repository Assistant
Digital Collections / University Repository Librarian
Librarian for Digital Scholarship Initiatives
4.5 FTE Repository Staff (!)

4. At Northeastern University:
Repository has been in existence since 2006
No dedicated repository staffing
I am the “repository coordinator” – manage traffic flow between depositors, metadata folks, policy setters, techies, service providers
But, this is just one of the things I do
So, I rely on staff in other departments to keep the repository up-to-date

5. Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Northeastern moved to an ETD program in 2008
We no longer accept print copies in the library
Volume: ~150 dissertations/master’s theses per year
Majority come in January and June
How does an ETD get to us?
Student submits it to ProQuest
Graduate program coordinator approves it
ProQuest adds ETD to their database and sends it as a zip file to our FTP site

6. Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Resource Management staff:
Monitor account for ProQuest notifications
Get ETD(s) from FTP site and deposit them into our repository using metadata provided by student
4 support staff; approx hours per week total (peak); less during off-peak periods
Metadata Management staff:
Monitor account for deposit notifications
Review deposited ETD(s) for metadata accuracy and compliance with our standards
2 professional staff; approx. 1-3 hours per week

7. The shared e-mail account:

8. The Process: From this…

9. …to this…

10. …to this!

12. Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Benefits for Repository:
ETDs are deposited more quickly
Accuracy generally improved by multi-person review
Benefits for Technical Services Staff:
Gain experience with Dublin Core/XML
Work with document type traditionally handled in Archives/Special Collections
Collaborative, interdepartmental work environment

13. Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Challenges:
Not staff’s primary area of responsibility or expertise
Supervision outside reporting lines
Not always going to be their top priority
Is multi-person review too much?

14. Future Considerations
How much should the library be involved in repository metadata?
Will more advanced technical skills be required? (eg. more than just a passing knowledge of XML)
Can/should ETD deposits be automated?
And if so, will staff be called upon to help with other kinds of repository work?

15. Other Opportunities for Tech Services Staff
Reviewing publishers’ copyright policies
Depositing faculty publications
Assisting liaison librarians as document collectors
Helping faculty/researchers develop or adapt ontologies for their work
Harvesting university publications from website
Digitizing publications in physical formats

16. Thank You!
Hillary Corbett Scholarly Communication Librarian Northeastern University Boston, MA