Become a Contributing Member

See sections below:

• Scope
• Terminology
• Who Can Contribute
• Benefits
• Obligations
• What Can be Submitted
• Fees and Service Pricing
• Summary
• Membership Application Process

See also:

• Submitting Collections to the OAC
• Resources for Contributing Members

 

Scope

This documentation provides instructions for contributing digital resources and archival finding aids to the CDL for hosting and presentation on the Calisphere and Online Archive of California (OAC) websites. It does not provide instructions for submitting digital objects to the CDL repositories and services listed below:

• UC Libraries Digital Preservation Repository (DPR)
• eScholarship Repository
• UC Image Service

Institutions interested in submitting content solely to these repositories should consult the projects' websites.

Terminology

The following terminology is used throughout this document:

• EAD finding aid: A guide or inventory to a collection held in an archive, museum, library, or historical society, electronically formatted using the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) standard. Finding aids provide a detailed description of a collection, its intellectual organization and, at varying levels of analysis, of individual items in the collection.
• METS digital object: An entity in which one or more content files (i.e., a file that is either born digital or created by converting analog, original objects into digital files -- image, text, and audio files are examples) and their corresponding metadata (i.e., structured information about an object, such as a description of its features, copyright information, etc.) are united, using the Metadata and Encoding Transmission Standard (METS).

For more information, see the CDL Glossary.

Who Can Contribute

• UC institutions: All libraries, archives, and museums
• Non-UC institutions: Academic, public, and private libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums. Emphasis is placed on California repositories. Institutions seeking to submit METS digital objects must be a participant in the California Local History Digital Resources Project (LHDRP). The CDL will host METS digital objects from other institutions on a case-by-case basis: please contact us to discuss.

Finding aids and digital content will be integrated and federated from regional, national and international repositories as appropriate.

Benefits

• Promote and extend online public access to your institution's collections via the Internet.
• Leverage CDL's repository services for the long-term management of your institution's digital assets.
• Access CDL training, documentation, and productivity tools.
• Enhance the scholarship potential for your institution's clientele through the integration of repository holdings in Calisphere and the OAC.
• Obtain usage statistics for your collections.
• Expand grants opportunities through your partnership with the CDL.

Obligations

• Agree to make your collections accessible through Calisphere and the OAC.
• Assume responsibility for maintaining EAD finding aids and METS digital objects.
• Observe the CDL's specifications for EAD finding aids and METS digital objects contributed to Calisphere and the OAC.
• Comply with legislation concerning fair use and copyright use restrictions.

What Can be Submitted

Content Requirements

Calisphere and the OAC collections serve as the basis for historical studies, analysis, and interpretation in accordance with:

• Identified and anticipated curriculum and research interests of users including faculty, students (university and K-12), teachers and California citizens
• Mutually identified thematic areas of interest to the CDL and its collaborative partners

Collection development criteria for Calisphere and the OAC are forthcoming.

Right to Deposit Digital Objects

Your institution must have rights to submit digital objects to Calisphere and OAC for online display. These rights should belong to one of the following four categories:

• The content is in the public domain
• The copyright is held by the submitter
• The library has obtained permission from the copyright holder to deposit the object
• The submission is an exercise of the depositor’s rights of use under Sections 107 (Fair Use) or 108 (Reproduction by Libraries and Archives) of the U.S. Copyright Act

Formats

The following digital collection formats are supported at this time:

• Calisphere:
  • Image-based METS digital objects
  • Text-based METS digital objects (TEI or imaged text)
• OAC:
  • EAD finding aids
  • Image-based METS digital objects associated with EAD finding aids
  • Text-based METS digital objects (TEI or imaged text) associated with EAD finding aids

Encoding Guidelines

All METS digital objects must conform to the "Enhanced Service Level" specifications described in the CDL Guidelines for Digital Objects, Version 2.0 (CDL GDO).

All EAD finding aids must conform to the OAC Best Practice Guidelines for Encoded Archival Description, Version 2.0 (OAC BPG EAD).

The CDL prefers that all digital objects are associated with an EAD finding aid, in order to provide users with general contextual information for the objects. Digital objects that do not have an associated EAD finding aid should indicate that they are part of a larger collection, and also reference the collection (which may be documented in the form of a web site, MARC record, etc.). The reference may take the form of a unique identifier (such as a URL) or a title. For more information about encoding related collection or project information in digital objects, see the CDL GDO, Section 3.2.1 (see also Appendix C for instructions on linking digital objects to collection descriptions).

Seeking Assistance with Preparing Your Collections

A CDL Digital Special Collections staff member can consult with you on implementing strategies and open-source based tools to meet CDL specifications. Even if your institution currently does not utilize EAD or METS, we can help you identify effective options for generating content based on these standards. The CDL also maintains a number of online resources to assist contributing members.

Fees and Service Pricing

• UC institutions: No cost
• Non-UC institutions: No cost for CDL hosting of EAD finding aids. The CDL is currently developing a cost-recovery model for hosting METS digital objects from non-UC institutions.

Summary

Institution type	UC Institutions
Services available
Who can contribute	All libraries, archives, and museums
Fees and service pricing	No cost
What can be submitted: Formats	• EAD finding aids • Image-based METS digital objects associated with EAD finding aids • Text-based METS digital objects (TEI or imaged text) associated with EAD finding aids	• Image-based METS digital objects • Text-based METS digital objects (TEI or imaged text)
Encoding guidelines	•All EAD finding aids must conform to the OAC Best Practice Guidelines for Encoded Archival Description, Version 2.0 (OAC BPG EAD). • All METS digital objects must conform to the "Enhanced Service Level" specifications described in the CDL Guidelines for Digital Objects, Version 2.0 (CDL GDO).

 

Institution type	Non-UC Institutions
Services available
Who can contribute	Academic, public, and private libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums. Emphasis is placed on California repositories. Institutions seeking to submit METS digital objects must be a participant in the California Local History Digital Resources Project (LHDRP). The CDL will host METS digital objects from other institutions on a case-by-case basis: please contact us to discuss.
Fees and service pricing	• No cost for CDL hosting of EAD finding aids. • The CDL is currently developing a cost-recovery model for hosting METS digital objects from non-UC institutions.	• The CDL is currently developing a cost-recovery model for hosting METS digital objects from non-UC institutions.
What can be submitted: Formats	• EAD finding aids • Image-based METS digital objects associated with EAD finding aids • Text-based METS digital objects (TEI or imaged text) associated with EAD finding aids	• Image-based METS digital objects • Text-based METS digital objects (TEI or imaged text)
Encoding guidelines	•All EAD finding aids must conform to the OAC Best Practice Guidelines for Encoded Archival Description, Version 2.0 (OAC BPG EAD). • All METS digital objects must conform to the "Enhanced Service Level" specifications described in the CDL Guidelines for Digital Objects, Version 2.0 (CDL GDO).

 

Membership Application Process

1. Complete a one-time Contributing Member Application and Collection Profile Form and return it to the CDL at ingest @ cdlib . org.
2. A CDL Digital Special Collections representative will contact your institution to review the information that you provided, present an overview of Calisphere and OAC services, describe the CDL's requirements for EAD finding aids and METS digital objects, and discuss strategies for preparing and submitting your collections to the CDL.
3. If your institution's collections are approved by the CDL for inclusion within Calisphere and OAC, you will be notified by the CDL. In addition:
   • Your institution will be established as a contributing member institution.
   • The primary contact will also be subscribed to the Calisphere and OAC listserv, for communication updates.
4. Complete a CDL/UC Libraries Digital Assets Submission Agreement and an associated CDL/UC Libraries Digital Assets Submission Inventory (prepared by your CDL representative, based on your initial discussions):
   • Prepare two copies of the completed CDL/UC Libraries Digital Assets Submission Agreement, indicating either license option 3.1 or 3.2 (choose one option only). Each copy must be signed in original by a representative who is authorized to enter into legal agreements for your institution (e.g., the director of your institution).
   • Sign one copy of the CDL/UC Libraries Digital Assets Submission Inventory.
   • Send the documents to the CDL at the following address:

     California Digital Library
     ATTN: Licensing Department
     415 20th Street, 4th Floor
     Oakland, CA 94612-2901

   • Upon acceptance, the CDL will return one signed original.