Scholarly Publishing and Digital Project Platforms & Services

The University Libraries provide scholarly publishing platforms, services and resources supporting digital  scholarship of Wichita State researchers, faculty, and students.

Currently, four locally developed platforms are dedicated to publishing / digital archiving / digital humanities projects at WSU:  SOAR: Shocker Open Access Repository, OJS: Open Journal Systems,  DigiProjects@WSU and Omeka.

SOAR: Shocker Open Access Repository is a dual purpose electronic database. It has been used for scholarly publishing  and digital archiving from 2007.  Faculty can publish / archive in SOAR research data in various formats as well as research results in traditional and new genres  of scholarly publishing, such as monographs, conference proceedings, journals and journal articles, conference papers and presentations; image collections, datasets, podcasts, videos and special projects. Students can publish here electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), Honors theses, research articles, presentations, abstracts and posters. Digital archiving collections can be created on request of the University colleges and divisions, departments and research centers, as well as administrative units that would like to archive their digital documents. To learn more about SOAR, visit SOAR: Shocker Open Repository libguide.

OJS: Open Journal Systems, the popular open source platform hosted by the University Libraries, is designed for electronic journal publishing. WSU faculty and students wanted to start / publish an electronic journal are invited to use this platform. 

Two other web publishing platforms and  library services that support them are still in development:

(1)  DigiProjects@WSU website is intended to support various digital scholarship / digital humanities projects using WordPress software. We plan to provide supporting services for faculty and student blogs, electronic portfolios, Open Educational Resources, newsletters and books on requests.

(2) Omeka platform provides a web publishing platform for digital exhibits and digital collections. 

While SOAR/DSpace and OJS are databases designed for digital archiving and long time preservation, WordPress and Omeka are websites that offer rich design and flexibility but less reliable for materials intended for digital archiving and preservation.

1. SOAR: Shocker Open Access Repository digital publishing and archiving services:

• A fully functional system where WSU authors / curators may submit, access, and preserve their scholarly works in any format;
• Ongoing support for SOAR collections, responding to authors / users inquiries, and supplying system monitoring, back-up and recovery;
• Storage and preservation management services to ensure longevity of preserved materials;
• Consultations on creation of a new collection, its home page, structure, metadata, intellectual property rights, licensing, etc.
• Consultations on creation of individual faculty collection 
• Set up access policies for open and restricted collections or items (e.g. thesis embargoes)
• Creation of departmental collections of faculty research
• Submission copyright research
• Preparation of digital objects (files) for publication
• Conversion files to other formats
• Digitization analog textual and still image materials
• Creation, enhancement, and review of metadata
• Submission of the digital objects (files) in the database
• Training on self-submission of digital collections in the database on request
• Building, processing and managing digital archives
•  Archiving accessible WSU video collections

Authors are fully responsible for work content. The Libraries does not edit or proofread submitted works. WSU units and faculty are welcome to create collections and submit their works in SOAR. Students need faculty recommendation to publish their research in SOAR. Authors retain copyright. 

2. OJS: Open Journal Systems scholarly publishing services:

• A fully functional electronic journal publishing system hosted by the University Libraries
• Consultations on creation / policies of a new journals
• Consultations on workflow and other specifics with journal editors, including copyright and licensing
• Submission to the system on behalf of authors and editors
• Creation of metadata, about pages, etc.
• Database maintenance, upgrade, and migration
• Training on self-submission and editorial workflow on request

Authors are fully responsible for their works content. Journal issues and articles should be provided image ready.

3. DigiProj Content Management System

• Host WordPress as a library platform for digital scholarship projects
• Provide consultations on WordPress, project management, metadata development, and collection building
• Train WordPress users on creation Web pages
• Participate in the projects initiated by WSU faculty and students

4. Omeka S

• Host Omeka S platform
• Provide consultations on Omeka, project management, metadata development, and collection building
• Train Omeka users on the system
• Participate in the projects initiated by WSU faculty and students