Creating Green Open Access to Institutional Scholarship using Digital Commons

The digital repository serves as a Green Open Access solution to globally share scholarship produced by the university community. Both Pittsburg State University (PSU) and Fort Hays State University (FHSU) previously used CONTENTdm (CDM) as their primary digital repository. In 2015, both PSU and FHSU purchased and launched Bepress Digital Commons (DC), a more robust repository. Considering global discoverability, unlimited storage, efficient technical support, and the ability to share a wide range of file formats in one interface, Digital Commons by Bepress is the most reliable for small institutions. This paper is based on the presentation delivered by PSU and FHSU at the Kansas Library AssociationCollege and University Library Section Spring Conference, April 21-22, 2016. This paper will address the experiences of adapting and implementing the IR at small institutions and the challenges associated with IR initiatives including marketing, workflow, and collection development. This paper will also compare and contrast advantages and disadvantages of the two platforms, CONTENTdm and Bepress Digital Commons.