3.1 Governance and Organizational Viability

3.1 Governance and Organizational Viability #

3.1.1 - The repository shall have a mission statement that reflects a commitment to the preservation of, long term retention of, management of, and access to digital information. #

Response #

SP’s mission is defined by the Strategic Plan of the Ontario Council of University Libraries. Specifically:

“Provide and preserve academic resources essential for teaching, learning and research”

Please refer to OCUL Strategic Plan for the complete text.

This is further refined in the Designated Community Definition:

“The purpose of Scholars Portal’s preservation efforts is to ensure long term access to a critical mass of works that has intellectual significance and long-term value, and deliver this in an environment that allows for ease of searching, browsing, retrieval, and reuse.”

Please see also the OCUL-UTL Service Agreement, which contains the terms of SP’s mandate for digital preservation activities.

Responsibility #

  • Everyone

Documents #

  1. OCUL Strategic Plan
  2. Designated Community Definition
  3. OCUL-UTL Service Agreement (available upon request)

3.1.2 - The repository shall have a Preservation Strategic Plan that defines the approach the repository will take in the long-term support of its mission. #

Response #

Please see SP’s Preservation Strategic Plan for a detailed definition of the repository’s planned approach to long-term fulfillment of its Mission Statement.

Responsibility #

  • Digital Preservation Librarian

Documents #

  1. Preservation Strategic Plan
  2. Mission Statement

3.1.2.1 - The repository shall have an appropriate, formal succession plan, contingency plans, and/or escrow arrangements in place in case the repository ceases to operate or the governing or funding institution substantially changes its scope. #

Response #

Please refer to SP’s Succession Plan for a comprehensive description of the arrangements that the repository has made should any occurrence cause its operations to cease.

Responsibility #

  • Digital Preservation Librarian
  • OCUL Projects Officer

Documents #

  1. Succession Plan

3.1.2.2 - The repository shall monitor its organizational environment to determine when to execute its formal succession plan, contingency plans, and/or escrow arrangements #

Response #

Communication between SP and its Designated Community is constant and robust. SP reports to the directors of the OCUL libraries on a semi-annual basis. At these reports, the directors review the repository’s performance and usage and provide feedback on new and ongoing initiatives. The funding for SP is evaluated on a yearly basis at the Fall directors' meeting. Any situation requiring the execution of SP’s Succession Plan would be made clear at one of these meetings.

The Service Agreement between OCUL and UTL (as the provider of the SP service) contains the full details of this process, as outlined in the Succession Plan.

Responsibility #

  • Digital Preservation Librarian

Documents #

  1. OCUL-UTL Service Agreement (available on request)
  2. Succession Plan

3.1.3 - The repository shall have a Collection Policy or other document that specifies the type of information it will preserve, retain, manage and provide access to. #

Response #

Please see SP’s Collection Policy for a detailed description of what materials and information the repository commits to preserving, managing and providing access to for its Designated Community.

Responsibility #

  • Software Developer
  • Digital Preservation Librarian
  • Metadata Librarian
  • System and Web Development Analyst

Documents #

  1. Collection Policy
  2. Designated Community Definition