cIRcle

Policies

cIRcle Digital Repository Mandate and Policies

Table of Contents:

Mandate
Policies

  1. Defined Terms
  2. Acquisition Policy
  3. Submission Requirements
  4. Technical Requirements
  5. Limits on Public Access to Materials
  6. Withdrawal of Public Access
  7. Permanent Removal of Materials from cIRcle
  8. Preservation of Materials in cIRcle
  9. Review and Amendment of these Policies

Mandate

cIRcle is an open access digital repository for published and unpublished material created by members of the UBC community. Its aim is to showcase and preserve UBC’s unique intellectual output by making content freely available to anyone, anywhere, via the internet.

Accordingly, cIRcle will take measures to ensure the long-term preservation of materials maintained in cIRcle, to minimize the effects of information technology obsolescence, and to preserve the authenticity, security and accessibility of materials maintained in cIRcle. We gratefully acknowledge the expertise and collaboration of our InterPARES 3 project colleagues whose case study of cIRcle served as the basis for the current policies.

Policies

The purpose of these Policies is to set parameters for the acquisition, submission, public access and preservation of materials maintained in cIRcle.

These Policies will be administered by the Digital Repository Librarians under the direction of the Head of Digital Programs and Services.

1.  Defined Terms

  1. “UBC Library” means the University Librarian, or his/her designate.
  2. “Materials” means research and other academic and creative materials that have been archived in cIRcle.
  3. “Submitter” means the member of the UBC community who makes a submission of Materials to cIRcle.
  4. “License Agreement” means the license signed by the Submitter as part of the process to submit the Materials to cIRcle, and includes any agreed upon amendments thereto.

2. Acquisition Policy

  1. cIRcle will accept research, and other academic and creative materials developed by members of the UBC community, including materials generated by faculty and students.
  2. Materials produced by persons outside the UBC community may be added to cIRcle upon approval of the UBC Library. Normally, such materials must be closely associated with UBC. (For example, research undertaken collaboratively with UBC researchers, invited guest lectures presented at UBC, proceedings of conferences held on the UBC campus and co-organized with UBC, etc.)

Note: Please refer also to the https://circle.ubc.ca/getting-started/circle-content-guidelines/.

3. Submission Requirements

  1. Materials will be neither critically examined nor peer-reviewed as part of the process of submission and deposit into cIRcle.
  2. All submissions must be made by, or with the express consent of, the creator(s) of the Materials, or the person(s) holding copyright in the Materials and any part thereof.
  3. Each Submitter must enter into a License Agreement in the form approved by the UBC Library, in consultation with the Office of the University Counsel.
  4. If a Submitter is a UBC student, their Materials must be approved by the UBC faculty member(s) supervising the student.
  5. Materials, and all associated descriptive information, must be complete at the time of submission to cIRcle. In particular:
    1. if the Materials consist of multiple files, all of the files must be submitted at the same time;
    2. if the Materials are part of a series or set of related works, the other works in that series should, if possible, also be deposited into cIRcle, and appropriate associated descriptive information added to the Materials should indicate that they are part of a series; and
    3. the Materials should be in their final formatted and edited state, and provided in digital form as per Section 4.

4. Technical Requirements

  1. All Materials must be submitted in digital form.
  2. A list of preferred digital file types may be found in the File Format Guidelines, which are revised from time to time. The UBC Library cannot guarantee the preservation of information presented in other format types, although reasonable efforts will be made.

5. Limits on Public Access to Materials

  1. Generally, all Materials will be made available to the public in accordance with the license terms selected by the Submitter.
  2. A Submitter may request that their Materials be withheld from public access for a certain period of time (otherwise known as a publication delay or embargo). Except as set out in section 5.c. below (regarding graduate theses and dissertations), the application and approval process for a publication delay/embargo is as follows:
    1. All requests must be made to the UBC Library at the time of submission, together with the reason for the publication delay/embargo (for example: pending publication, publisher embargo, and/or the confidential or commercially sensitive nature of the information the Materials contain).
    2. The UBC Library will consider all of the circumstances when making determinations regarding whether to grant a publication delay/embargo, and the length of any such delay. The UBC Library is not obligated to approve any request for a publication delay/embargo, but the UBC Library will respect publication delay/embargo policies agreed upon by the UBC Library and groups representing Submitters or setting standards for Submissions (e.g. faculties).
    3. A publication delay/embargo agreed upon by the UBC Library and the Submitter is only valid and binding after it has been put into writing.
    4. If the Submitter does not agree with the UBC Library’s decision regarding a publication delay/embargo, the Submitter should engage the Head of their department or Dean (as the Submitter may deem appropriate) and, if necessary, the Head or Dean may engage the University Librarian in collaborative resolution discussions.
  3. For graduate students submitting a thesis or dissertation, the application and approval process for a publication delay/embargo is as follows:
    1. All requests for a publication delay/embargo and any other special terms of public access to the Materials, must be made to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies in advance of submitting the Materials to cIRcle.
    2. The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies will make a determination and cIRcle will respect that determination.
    3. If the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies approves a publication delay/embargo or other special terms, the Submitter must inform the UBC Library when submitting the Materials to cIRcle, providing such supporting information as the UBC Library may require. Upon the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies confirming the embargo date with the UBC Library, the UBC Library will implement the embargo date.

6. Withdrawal of Public Access

  1. Meaning of Withdrawal. To withdraw public access to Materials means to make the Materials inaccessible to the public.
  2. Withdrawal of Public Access. Without limitation, the UBC Library may, at its sole discretion, choose not to make any particular Materials publicly available or choose to withdraw public access to any Materials, temporarily or permanently, for any reason, including, but not limited to:
    1. any of the representations or warranties set out in the License Agreement being incorrect or inaccurate;
    2. claimed or suspected copyright infringement or plagiarism;
    3. failure to obtain required approvals from the applicable Research Ethics Board(s) or revocation of such approval(s);
    4. concerns related to national security, public safety or danger to individuals; and/or
    5. claims or concerns of scholarly misconduct.In addition, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies may exercise the same discretion with respect to dissertations and theses accepted into cIRcle, and the UBC Library will respect the Faculty’s determination.
  3. Request to Withdraw Public Access for Materials other than dissertations and theses. All requests to temporarily or permanently withdraw public access to Materials must be made to the UBC Library. The UBC Library is not obligated to approve any withdrawal request. The UBC Library will consider all of the circumstances, make a final determination of all requests, and inform the applicant of the decision. Some of the reasons for approving a withdrawal request are listed in Section 6.b. above.
  4. Request to Withdraw Public Access for dissertations and theses. All requests to temporarily or permanently withdraw public access to a dissertation or thesis must be made as follows:
    1. For dissertations and theses accepted into cIRcle with graduation dates in 2008 or later, the request must be made to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies. The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies is not obligated to approve any withdrawal request. The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies will consider all of the circumstances and make a final determination of all requests. The UBC Library will comply with the determination of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies. Some of the reasons for approving a withdrawal request are listed in Section 6.b. above.
    2. For dissertations and theses in cIRcle with graduation dates during the period 1919-2007 (inclusive), the request must be made to the UBC Library, who will withdraw the dissertation or thesis at the author’s request.
  5. Reconsideration of Decision. The UBC Library, and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies (with respect to dissertations and theses) may revisit and, at its sole discretion, revise or reverse its decision to withdraw public access to any Materials, at any time.
  6. Notification of Withdrawal.
    1. If withdrawing public access in accordance with this Section 6, the UBC Library or the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or College of Graduate Studies (with respect to dissertations and theses) will notify the applicant and the Materials’ Submitter of the decision as soon as is reasonably possible (in advance if possible), give a short summary of its reason(s), and give a reasonable opportunity to respond.
    2. The UBC Library may temporarily remove public access to any Materials pending confirmation of outstanding issues with the Materials or resolution of a dispute regarding the Materials.
    3. If the applicant or the Materials’ Submitter (as the case may be) does not agree with the decision regarding withdrawal or removal, that person should engage the Head of the relevant department or Dean (as that person may deem appropriate), and, if necessary, the Head or Dean may engage the University Librarian in collaborative resolution discussions.

7. Permanent Removal of Materials from cIRcle

  1. If the decision is made to temporarily or permanently withdraw public access to any Materials (in accordance with Section 6 above), the UBC Library will maintain the Materials in cIRcle with access restricted to the UBC Library staff administering cIRcle.
  2. However, in extraordinary circumstances, the UBC Library may remove such Materials from cIRcle.

8. Preservation of Materials in cIRcle

  1. The UBC Library undertakes to preserve Materials in cIRcle for the long term by means of regular backups, by minimizing the effects of information technology obsolescence and by preserving the authenticity, security and accessibility of the Materials.

9. Review and Amendment of these Policies

  1. These Policies have been approved and may be amended by the Head of Digital Programs and Services.
  2. cIRcle contributors, individually or collectively by department or faculty, are encouraged to engage with the UBC Library to establish cIRcle contribution policies specific to their needs, including (but not limited to) policies regarding publication delays or embargoes.
  3. The UBC Library will review the License Agreement and these Policies annually or as otherwise determined by the Head of Digital Programs and Services.

Last Updated December 1, 2021.