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What to do When the Cops Call?: Lessons Learned from ETDs and Repository Management

Session Type: Presentation

Session Description
Managing an institutional repository can be a complicated process. Three repository managers from disparate organizations have come together to share their top tips for the care and feeding of an IR. The “lessons learned” from managing Electronic Theses and Dissertations can readily be applied to Digital Libraries, faculty interactions, and other areas of project management. This panel can teach us about what users need when uploading content to the repository, what to do when the cops call, how to deal with openness, and more.

If your university has mandated that students deposit electronic copies of their theses and dissertations in the institutional repository, ETDs are likely to be one of your largest IR collections, your most consistently updated source of content, and the first (and most stressful) way your users encounter the repository. High stress situations, looming deadlines, and worried users are all part of the ETD process. Drawing upon their experience with problematic patron encounters, deposit workflow revision, instructional design, and improved patron satisfaction, our panelists will describe what worked, what failed, and what lessons you can take away to apply to management of the repository as a whole.

Topics covered by the panelists will include:

  • High stress/high pressure situations: what to do when you have to call security… or the cops call you
  • Why “never trouble trouble til trouble troubles you” isn’t a good strategy for repository management and planning
  • The importance of outreach and instruction, and the necessity of delivering them in multiple formats
  • Soothing the stressed student… or faculty member
  • Continually improving and refining workflows and services
  • Working with stakeholders from all parts of the university, and understanding and balancing their different needs.

This moderated panel will conclude with an opportunity for audience questions and discussion.

Session Leaders
Molly Dolan, West Virginia University
Sarah Shreeves, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Amy Buckland, McGill University
Carmen Mitchell, California State University San Marcos

View the community reporting Google doc for this session.