The following policies have been established for the current and future collections residing in DigitalCommons@Linfield. DigitalCommons@Linfield is a dynamic institutional repository system, based on the principle of open access, that enables us to collect, distribute to the broader community, and preserve the scholarly output of the faculty, students, staff, and their collaborators at Linfield University. Members of the Linfield community interested in submitting materials should consult with the DigitalCommons Coordinator.
The Linfield Libraries are committed to the principles of open access, particularly as realized through DigitalCommons@Linfield. DigitalCommons@Linfield strives to remove barriers to information access by freely and openly disseminating content for worldwide use. Because we seek to minimize the information stratification brought about by access restrictions, we encourage contributors to submit content with as few access restrictions as possible. Making content openly available helps to expand shared knowledge, accelerate multi‐disciplinary breakthroughs in research, increase the visibility of Linfield's scholarly and creative output, and raise the overall profile of the institution.
Work selected for inclusion in DigitalCommons@Linfield must be original and must be produced by a faculty member, staff member, student, organization, or department of Linfield University. The work must be creative, scholarly in nature, research-oriented, or of institutional significance. Student and alumni work must be approved for inclusion by a faculty sponsor. The contributor must own the copyright to all components and content within the work, or have received and be able to show permission to have the material available in DigitalCommons@Linfield. With limited exceptions (see Exceptions to Adding Full-Text Content below), the full text of a work must be made available, although in some cases a work's availability may be restricted to current members of the Linfield community only.
Dates of Eligible Content
DigitalCommons@Linfield primarily serves as a mechanism for collecting the scholarly and creative works created while faculty, staff, and students were studying or employed at Linfield University. However, currently employed faculty and staff members may also request the inclusion of work completed prior to the beginning of their employment at Linfield. Contact the DigitalCommons Coordinator for more information.
File Formats of Eligible Content
Various file formats are accepted; refer to Digitization Standards and File Formats for Data Management Plans for more information.
Reserved Rights Pertaining to Eligible Content
Contributors retain all rights to their work, including copyright (provided they have not transferred copyright via a previous license agreement with a third party).
The DigitalCommons Coordinator reserves the right to accept or reject any content, in part or in whole, in accordance with these guidelines. The DigitalCommons Coordinator also reserves the right, upon request for withdrawal, to decline to remove material. See Withdrawal Request Requirements for more information.
Types of Eligible Content
Content must be creative, scholarly in nature, research-oriented, or of institutional significance to Linfield. Examples of possible content types include:
Eligible Contributors
Current faculty members (including adjuncts), staff members, students, organizations, and departments at Linfield University are eligible to contribute content to DigitalCommons@Linfield. Non-Linfield contributors may also be eligible if they are co-authoring with Linfield contributors or if they are affiliated closely with the University (e.g., if they are faculty emeriti, alumni, hold honorary appointments, have delivered a public lecture on campus, or are otherwise sponsored by a faculty member). Contributors should notify all co-authors of intent to deposit work in DigitalCommons@Linfield. Upon inquiring about the submission of works with the DigitalCommons Coordinator, a submission agreement will be drafted for contributors to sign, granting the University the non-exclusive right to distribute and preserve the material via DigitalCommons@Linfield.
Exceptions to Adding Full-Text Content
Posting bibliographic citations or abstracts alone, without the full text of a work, runs contrary to the mission of DigitalCommons@Linfield. As such, there are few circumstances under which the full text of a work is not available in DigitalCommons@Linfield. Metadata-only records are permitted in the following collections:
Access Restrictions
By default, all content in DigitalCommons@Linfield (both the metadata record and the complete digital content or full text) is fully accessible to the public. However, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to limit access to individual items temporarily; this is known as embargoed access. When the embargo period expires, the content becomes fully accessible to the public.
Community-based access may also be employed for individual items. In community-based access, items are restricted to current members of the Linfield community only. This restriction may be either temporary or permanent.
Regardless of the type, access restrictions must be requested at the time of submission, before the content has been made available in DigitalCommons@Linfield. Access restrictions requested by student contributors must be approved by their faculty sponsors.
Portions of this policy have been informed by, and adapted from, collection policies for institutional repositories at Furman University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pacific University, Portland State University, Purdue University, the University of Maine, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We gratefully acknowledge our colleagues' work.
This policy is reviewed at least every 3 years by the DigitalCommons Coordinator and the Library Director, in consultation as needed with General Counsel for Linfield University.
Version 3.1 (current) prepared by Kathleen Spring (DigitalCommons Coordinator), July 1, 2020.
Version 3.0 prepared by Kathleen Spring (DigitalCommons Coordinator), April 30, 2019.
Version 2.0 prepared by Kathleen Spring (DigitalCommons Coordinator) and John McKeegan (Advisor to President & General Counsel), October 15, 2012.
Version 1.0 prepared by Susan Barnes Whyte (Library Director) and Carol McCulley (DigitalCommons Coordinator), April 23, 2010. Approved by the DigitalCommons Steering Committee, May 10, 2010.