Digital Commons Collection Development Policy

Digital Commons @ Connecticut College is the Institutional Repository for the Connecticut College community. It both preserves and facilitates dissemination of the collective research, publications, and historical record of the College. Digital Commons is designed to be a permanent historical record of Connecticut College. With limited exceptions all material in Digital Commons is to be made openly available to the broader research community. 

1. Who may contribute to Digital Commons?
All contributions must be from current students or alumni, current or retired faculty and staff, College departments, centers, and administrative units, or College affiliated entities. Student and alumni contributions should be of work conducted while enrolled at the College. Faculty and staff research conducted before or after employment at the College may be considered.

2. What material is collected?

• Student honors papers (voluntary submission prior to 2011, required submission from 2011), student internship reflections, student integrative projects
  
  
• Other student research as recommended by faculty advisors may be considered at the discretion of the Digital Commons administrator in consultation with the Digital Commons Collection Committee
  
  
• Published faculty and staff research, including published articles, pre- and postprints, research reports, working papers, conference presentations, research data, and creative works
  
  
• Campus and departmental publications, including but not limited to events, conferences, symposia, and speeches/addresses at the discretion of the Digital Commons administrator in consultation with the Digital Commons Collection Committee
  
  
• Publications from student clubs and organizations
  
  
• Digitized collections of institutional importance or national research significance.

3. What material may be restricted to on-campus use?
All internship reflections are restricted. Students in consultation with their advisors may restrict access to their honors papers. All other materials must be openly accessible.

4. Removal of material from Digital Commons
Digital Commons serves as a permanent historical record of the College. Items may only be considered for removal from Digital Commons if they infringe on copyright or involve serious academic misconduct. The determination of what represents serious academic misconduct will be made by the Digital Commons Collections Committee. If an item is removed from Digital Commons, a metadata record shall remain in place with a note explaining the reason for its removal. The author will be notified when an item is removed concerning its reasons for removal

5. Digital Commons Collections Committee
The Digital Commons Collection Committee consists of the Vice President for Information Services/Librarian of the College; the Information Services staff member responsible for the administration of Digital Commons; the College Archivist; the Director of Collections and Resource Management; and a faculty representative from the Information Services Committee.

Approved by the Information Services Committee, May 3, 2019