Frequently Asked Questions

For Montana Tech Faculty and Academic Departments

Who can submit content to Digital Commons @ Montana Tech?

Current Montana Tech faculty, students and staff can contribute eligible content. The Montana Tech Library can assist with digitizing, clearing copyright and depositing your work in Digital Commons.

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What materials can be contributed?

The work should be scholarly in nature. Deposits are intended to be permanent contributions to the repository; works that are in progress or ephemeral in nature are not recommended for contribution.

Examples of Eligible Materials:

  • Journal articles and essays
  • Conference proceedings, papers and presentations
  • White papers and technical reports
  • Research reports from grant-funded projects with Open Access requirements
  • Academic lectures
  • Books/book chapters
  • Graduate theses and dissertations
  • Undergraduate research (senior design projects, capstone projects, honors theses, etc.)

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Why should I contribute my work?

Digital Commons @ Montana Tech makes your scholarship available in a single place online, enabling global access. Research indicates that articles are cited earlier and more often if they are available in an open access repository like Digital Commons @ Montana Tech.

Benefits

  • Your scholarship receives high visibility in a centralized, online location where researchers can easily discover and cite your work (via searches in Google Scholar and other search engines).
  • Digital Commons can provide you with precise, monthly download reports for immediate feedback on your work and for inclusion in tenure and promotion portfolios.
  • Digital Commons creates a digital archive of all your academic work, including previously unpublished work such as conference presentations and white papers.
  • For your unpublished works, you retain copyright ownership and control of your intellectual property rights while granting Digital Commons @ Montana Tech permission to include your materials in the repository.
  • For previously published materials (e.g. journal articles, books chapters, etc.), the library makes every effort to obtain clearance from the copyright holder, thus enabling an electronic copy to be archived in Digital Commons @ Montana Tech. Continuity assures that your work has a stable online location that can be cited now and in the future.
  • Every work deposited is assigned a unique, persistent URL so users can cite your work freely without concern for broken links.

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My work has been published in a journal and I do not know if I still own copyright. Can I still deposit my work?

Yes, provided that copyright clearance can be obtained if necessary. Publishers customarily require authors to give up ownership (copyright) of their work in return for publication. Montana Tech Library can assist with requesting copyright clearances for previously published materials.

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What rights do I grant the university when I deposit my work in Digital Commons @ Montana Tech?

Individual authors retain their copyright, but are asked to complete a submission agreement for materials deposited. If authors have signed over their copyright to publishers, the library will contact publishers on the author’s behalf and obtain written permission to deposit works. Requests for commercial use of materials found in the Digital Commons @ Montana Tech will be referred back to the author.

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As a faculty member, what do I have to do to deposit my work?
  • If this is your first submission to Digital Commons, download and sign the appropriate submission agreement and send via campus mail to Scott Juskiewicz or email sjuskiewicz@mtech.edu
  • Next, submit your publication information via the Publication Submission Form
  • Answer “Yes” to the question Do you want the Library to post your work to Digital Commons?
  • The library will perform any necessary copyright clearance, and you will be notified once your work has been posted to Digital Commons.

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I do not have time to digitize or locate all my publications. Can the library help?

Absolutely! The library can assist with locating, digitizing, clearing copyright and depositing your work in Digital Commons.

For help, contact:

Scott Juskiewicz 406-496-4284

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I just had a new publication come out. How do I get this recent work into Digital Commons?

Use the same procedure for submitting your previous works:

  • If this is your first submission to Digital Commons, download and sign the appropriate submission agreement and send via campus mail to Scott Juskiewicz or email sjuskiewicz@mtech.edu
  • Next, submit your publication information via the Publication Submission Form
  • Answer “Yes” to the question Do you want the Library to post your work to Digital Commons?
  • The library will perform any necessary copyright clearance, and you will be notified once your work has been posted to Digital Commons.

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What file formats are acceptable?

See Preservation and File Formats policy

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Can I withdraw a deposit?

See Withdrawing Materials policy

policy

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Who do I contact for questions and assistance?
Scott Juskiewicz 406-496-4284

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