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JMU Scholarly Commons Collection Development Policy & Preservation Support Policy

Table of Contents

Collection Development Policy

Scope of Collections

JMU Scholarly Commons was established as the institutional repository and open access publishing platform of James Madison University (JMU) in 2013, utilizing the Digital Commons platform. The broad capabilities of JMU Scholarly Commons include: the dissemination of JMU student, staff, and faculty research including presentations, papers, posters, and selected multimedia works; the dissemination of electronic theses, dissertations, and honors projects produced by JMU students; the publication of JMU-based journals including peer-reviewed publications; conference proceedings for JMU-sponsored events; dissemination of select digitized and born-digital materials from JMU Special Collections, including select publications; and other materials related to James Madison University.

Collecting efforts for JMU Scholarly Commons include the following:

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. Other forms of scholarship may be considered for inclusion. Please contact us via the consultation form (select “Publishing and Repository Services”) if you have any questions or concerns.

Collection Priorities and Intellectual Freedom

As with the general Collection Development Policy, the JMU Scholarly Commons reflects and supports the mission of the Libraries and the goals and mission of JMU. JMU Scholarly Commons supports the open, worldwide distribution of scholarship originating at, or connected to, James Madison University.

Selection Responsibility

Materials may be acquired through direct deposit by the creator (or their designate), or by JMU Libraries. All materials are reviewed by JMU Libraries and must align with the collecting guidelines outlined below.

Collecting Guidelines

JMU Scholarly Commons acquires and provides access to a variety of published and unpublished materials, locally-created publications, and unpublished manuscript and archival collections. Acquisitions are evaluated using the same criteria as for other library materials; however, additional selection criteria specifically applicable to JMU Scholarly Commons may be considered, including but not limited to:

Collection Management

The Head of Digital Assets, in consultation with colleagues throughout the Libraries, assesses the content of JMU Scholarly Commons to ensure adequate and appropriate resources to support the mission of JMU Scholarly Commons, the Libraries, and the University.

JMU Scholarly Commons Preservation Support Policy

JMU Libraries is committed to responsible and sustainable management of works deposited in JMU Scholarly Commons and to ensuring long-term access to them.

Digital Preservation is a key component of JMU Scholarly Commons, and essential elements such as information security, redundant copies, data backups, and server failure monitoring are built into the system. Other aspects, such as format obsolescence, are more difficult to control and plan for and rely on users choosing stable formats for their digital works. While efforts will be taken to preserve works in any digital format submitted to Scholarly Commons, submission in a recommended file format is strongly encouraged to facilitate long-term preservation. Users can read more about the Privacy and Security of JMU Scholarly Commons on the vendor’s Safeguarding Your Content Page.

Digital preservation is an evolving field. Current long-term preservation strategies and technologies employed by JMU Scholarly Commons are shaped by the Libraries’ Digital Preservation Policy and informed by relevant international standards and emerging best practices. Digital preservation activities and policies are reviewed regularly to ensure that they remain current as technology and institutional practices evolve.

Appendices

Appendix I: Recommended File Formats

JMU Scholarly Commons can accept many electronic file formats. As stated in the JMU Scholarly Commons Preservation Support Policy, the JMU Libraries is committed to preserving the binary form of the digital object of theses and dissertation content deposited in JMU Scholarly Commons. As resources permit, the Libraries will also take further measures to preserve as much functionality (“look and feel”) of the original content as possible.

The long-term preservation of the complete and original functionality of certain file formats, however, may not be practical or possible. Research and experience has shown that the likelihood of successful long-term preservation of content is much higher when file formats possess the following characteristics:

A note about PDF (Portable Document Format)

PDF is a good file format choice in terms of preservation, with PDF/A being the best option. Do not embed media files in a PDF, as this can significantly increase the size of the file and make it difficult to download, access and preserve. Do not encrypt or lock a PDF file as this will make it impossible to perform optical character recognition (OCR) in order to create fully searchable text.

For more detailed information about recommended file formats for long term access and preservation, please see the JMU Libraries Digital Preservation Policy.

Appendix II: Standard Submission Agreement

James Madison University Libraries

By agreeing to this license, the author grants to James Madison University Libraries (JMU Libraries) at James Madison University (JMU) the non-exclusive right to reproduce, and distribute the submission (including the abstract) to the public as well as the right to migrate or convert your submission, without alteration of content, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation or continued distribution.

JMU acknowledges that this is a non-exclusive license; any copyrights in the submission remain with the author or other copyright holder/s and subsequent uses of the submitted material by that person(s) are not restricted by this license.

The author agrees that James Madison University may keep more than one copy of this submission for purposes of security, back-up, and preservation.

The author represents that the submission covered by this license is their original work and that they have the right to grant this license to JMU Libraries at JMU. The author further represents that the submission does not, to the best of their knowledge, infringe upon any third-party’s copyright. If the submission contains material for which the author does not hold copyright the author represents that they have obtained unrestricted permission by authorization of the copyright holders, or by operation of the law, and that such third-party material is clearly identified and acknowledged within the text or content of the submission. In the event of a subsequent dispute over the copyrights to material contained in this submission, the author agrees to indemnify and hold harmless JMU and its employees or agents for any uses of the material authorized by this license.

If the submission is based upon work that has been sponsored or supported by any agency or organization other than James Madison University, the author represents that they have fulfilled any right of review or other obligation required by contract or agreement with the supporting entity.

JMU Libraries will make the submission available to the public using a Creative Commons license of the author’s choosing, accompanied by a copyright statement indicating the author’s continuing rights. James Madison University Libraries will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the author’s name remains clearly associated with the submission.

Revised 2024.