Speaking to the Academic Affairs Leadership Team

Last week I was invited to speak to the AALT about Digital Commons. I was excited to get a chance to tell the Digital Commons story, and planned what to say. I decided I would explain about Digital Commons, talk about some of the highlights from the most recent annual report, and answer questions.

Then Mary Jo stopped in, and told me she had gotten an email from JSmith with serious concerns. Okay...now I'm worried. But I planned my talk, and went prepared to answer what I thought might be their concerns.

I thought they would want to talk to me for 10-15 minutes, but they kept me nearly an hour, asking questions about all sorts of subjects related to Digital Commons. In the end, Jeff did bring up brand management, and other publishing issues. I assured them we worked closely with Marketing and Communications, and suggested perhaps an Advisory Board for the press might be a good idea.

Overall, it went well and they applauded at the end, so ....

Thomas Jefferson University’s Reader Survey Captures IR’s Value

NOVEMBER 17, 2015

tags: Thomas Jefferson University

Dan Kipnis, Education Services Librarian at Thomas Jefferson University, has come up with an ingenious way to capture hard-to-find reader feedback on publications in their IR, The Jefferson Digital Commons. Dan explains that the results “will be used in quarterly reports and for demonstrating value to administrators and the entire community at Thomas Jefferson University.”

Dan explains the process below, in his own words and images:
How does one measure value in an online environment? Do you count downloads, hits, or page views? Quantitative data is helpful, but words still matter. Anecdotes and stories can demonstrate value and reflect a humanity that data cannot always demonstrate. The Jefferson Digital Commons, in an effort to capture human feedback, has created a link that has generated numerous value-driven comments from around the world.

The feedback link appears on cover pages throughout the JDC, so that even readers who find the materials through search engines have access to the feedback form.

We also have created buttons that are included in capstone presentations, which link to the same feedback form.

The online form prompts researchers to check for permission to reuse their comments in promotional materials for the JDC. Using Google forms is an easy alternative to the form that we have developed.

All feedback is emailed to the two Editors of the JDC and the archivist at Thomas Jefferson University. The comments are then added to a web page that we have titled: What People are Saying about the Jefferson Digital Commons and this page is linked from the JDC homepage.

Feedback received and posted on our feedback page include:
1. Student gratitude for posting a post-print article on a hard-to-find topic
2. Family members who are researching alumni who attended Thomas Jefferson University
3. A researcher locating relevant scholarship for their topic
4. A historian preparing a presentation and locating historical assets from our archives and special collections

Check out the resulting page “What People are Saying about the Jefferson Digital Commons.” Dan welcomes questions at dan.kipnis@jefferson.edu, and your bepress Consultant can help you set up similar links in your repository.

Jigsaw, the new year

Thanks so much for the information! Our student editors, I believe, have chosen to work via email submissions again this year (and I tend to keep a pretty hands-off approach to their editorial choices). That said, I’d really prefer for us to move to using this platform on Digital Commons for submissions next year and will advocate for it if I’m still the faculty sponsor. I think it will really help to professionalize the journal and streamline the process. 

One more quick question related to this year since we’re still in a transition stage: is there a permission form available (other than the one on Digital Commons) that we should send to students whose work is accepted *this spring* to ensure that we can also upload it to Digital Commons?  Just want to be sure students are aware that their work may be accessible via the internet, which I’m sure most will be delighted about! 

Thanks,

Kristen

On Nov 16, 2015, at 8:39 AM, Myers, Kim <kmyers@brockport.edu> wrote:

The original plan was for the students to use Jigsaw online as a real journal, using the same processes a professional journal would. For example, students would submit to the journal through the online submission link found in the sidebar: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/submit.cgi?context=jigsaw. Then the student editor would assign the article for review to one or more reviewers. The reviewers would submit the reviews back to the editor, who would send a decision letter to the author. In theory, they have 3 choices: Accept for publication, Request revisions, or Reject. The accepted articles remain together in the back end of the software, until such time as they are ready to publish. Part of the submission process includes clicking through a digital permission form.

While highlighted student work was one goal of having Jigsaw online, I believe there were other equally important goals. These include making the process more efficient, and most importantly giving students the opportunity to work with professional publishing software. Digital Commons is the product of bepress, formerly Berkeley Electronic Press, and publishing real world journals is what they did before branching into IR software. 

I am happy to help train the student editors in how to make the best use of Digital Commons.

Kim L Myers

Digital Repository Specialist

2014 bepress IR All Star

http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/

44K, Drake Memorial Library

The College at Brockport, State University of New York

585-395-2742

   

From: Prince, Wendy 
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2015 10:38 PM
To: Myers, Kim
Subject: FW: Jigsaw

Hi Kim,

Kristen, faculty advisor to Jigsaw, has a few questions. 

               

                Do we need to think about anything for our next issue in order to ensure a smooth process about uploading to Digital Commons? Do we need to have students sign permissions forms or anything like that? I’ve cc-d Emily here in case there’s anything she needs to know about that, too.

Emily is the English Club president.  

Well is there a way to create a smoother process?  Is there a formal permission process before posting?

What do we want to tell her?

  

From: Proehl, Kristen 
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2015 10:38 AM
To: Prince, Wendy <wprince@brockport.edu>
Cc: Emily Blackwell <eblac3@u.brockport.edu>
Subject: Re: Jigsaw

This is so great to see Jigsaw online! I’m going to include a link to it when we ask for new Jigsaw submissions again (via email) from students later this semester. Is it okay if we include it in a Daily Eagle announcement, too?

A few quick questions: do we need to think about anything for our next issue in order to ensure a smooth process about uploading to Digital Commons? Do we need to have students sign permissions forms or anything like that? I’ve cc-d Emily here in case there’s anything she needs to know about that, too.

Thanks,

Kristen

On Nov 12, 2015, at 11:03 PM, Prince, Wendy <wprince@brockport.edu> wrote:

Hi Kristen,

My apologies, I sent an email to the English Club but forgot to include you.  Jigsaw is finally uploaded to Digital Commons.  Here is the link:  http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/jigsaw/

The next edition should upload quickly compared to this issue.