Scholars' Bank Collection Development

Scholars’ Bank is the open access repository for the works of faculty, students and staff at the University of Oregon. It exists to reflect and serve the intellectual life of the university. The repository hosts a variety of digital materials collected and/or deposited with the intent of global online dissemination and preservation in perpetuity.

Scope

Who may deposit
University of Oregon affiliates are eligible to deposit material to the repository. Priority is given to content that is unique, of particular scholarly significance and/or supports research and teaching on campus. The Libraries reserves the right to make collection decisions in accordance with available resources and capacities. Specific depositors may include current teaching and research faculty, faculty emeriti, graduate students, University alumni, staff, undergraduates with departmental approval, and University offices and departments.
What can be deposited
Works must be of a scholarly nature and authored by, or involve substantial intellectual contribution from the individual depositing the work. These include: Graduate theses, dissertations, and supporting files
  • Open Educational Resources
  • Learning objects such as course lectures or other course material
  • Senior Honors Papers, capstones, and terminal projects
  • Presentations
  • Technical reports, white papers, research posters, and symposia proceedings
  • Preprints, post-prints, and published articles
  • Books and compositions
  • Video and audio presentations
  • Works-in-progress
  • Datasets
  • Publications of departments and schools
  • Creative writing, art and performance
  • University Archival collections as designated by University Historian & Archivist
Scholars’ Bank does not accept citations to works alone. Works deposited as pre or post-prints will contain metadata linking the work to the published piece, in addition to standard metadata.
Deposit Policies
In some cases, specific policies for deposit apply. With respect to undergraduate works:
  • All Clark Honors College theses are submitted by a department representative
  • Other undergraduate honors theses (non-CHC): voluntary submission by departmental representative or by library personnel at the author's request.
  • All other undergraduate work: All other work, such as class projects or capstone projects, must be sponsored by a faculty member, or sanctioned by the department.
The Graduate School determines policies for deposit of current Graduate Theses and Dissertations, including embargo policies and the petition process for renewal. For theses and dissertations that have not yet been made available digitally, please refer to the policy for retrospective conversion of Graduate Theses and Dissertations. With respect to creative writing or art and performance, submissions should be in support of a capstone, terminal project, thesis, dissertation, or, in the case of faculty, associated with teaching and/or research.
Intellectual Property Rights of the Author
Authors who submit their work to Scholars' Bank retain all rights to their work. When depositing an item into Scholars’ Bank an author will be required to agree to a Non-Exclusive Distribution License. The license ensures that the submission is original work and that the depositor has the right to grant the rights contained in the license and, to the best of their knowledge, does not infringe upon anyone's copyright. It also ensures that authors may make other copies of their work available on other web sites or through other means, including publishing the work in the same or revised form, without obtaining permission from the Libraries while, at the same time, allowing Scholars’ Bank to host a copy. The University of Oregon Libraries does not seek nor claim copyright on any of the works submitted to Scholars' Bank. In addition, the Libraries charge no fee for the service and collect no revenue from the archive.

 

Prioritization

Because our capacity and resources are limited, we will give priority to items that support University of Oregon strategic goals of research, scholarship and teaching.
 

Access and Restrictions

Open Access
Scholars’ Bank is an Open Access repository. The Library’s goal is to provide free and open access to all research collected. Metadata records are always openly available. Access restrictions to files are allowed in exceptional circumstances, and granted for a limited time on a case-by-case basis.
Each item for deposit must:
  • Be in the public domain, have documented permission granted by the copyright holder(s), or be allowed by 17 U.S. Code Sec. 108
  • Be intended for public viewing and use
  • Be in a standard open format accessible through current software. For more information see: Research Data Management Best Practices
Withdrawal of Material
Scholars' Bank is a permanent archive. In exceptional cases, authors, editors or community liaisons may request that works be removed from the archive. Reasons for withdrawal of content could be factual inaccuracy, copyright infringement, or plagiarism. Content will not be removed because the author has produced a revised version of a work. Material deposited in Scholars’ Bank will remain when the author leaves the university.
In the event that material is removed, a record of the item will be preserved, with an explanation of the withdrawal action. In the case of university records, including theses and dissertations, the material will not be deleted entirely, but held in a dark archive. Theses are Oregon Public Records, and serve as evidence of completion of an educational requirement at the university.
Permissions
Beyond the right to read the content or download or print a copy for personal use, re-use rights vary based on the permissions granted by individual rights holders, and noted in each record.

Last updated February 3, 2023