What is IRBU?
IRBU is Brandon University’s institutional repository. It was established in January 2019 and is managed by the Digital Asset Management Committee/IRBU Working Group in the John E. Robbins Library and SJ McKee Archives.
What does the IRBU acronym stand for?
IRBU stands for Institutional Repository at Brandon University.
What can I find in IRBU?
IRBU’s mandate is to store, preserve, make visible and openly available the scholarly, educational and institutional outputs of the University, as well as selected archival collections. Content is being added to IRBU on an on-going basis. Currently our collections include:
- University publications and institutional documents
- Researcher scholarship (faculty, staff and students)
- Archival collections
- Student Union publications
What kinds of digital records can be ingested in IRBU?
IRBU allows the upload of a variety of discrete file formats including text, audio, video, image, PowerPoint and Excel files. Additionally, you can stream media from third-party services like YouTube or Vimeo. All content submitted must adhere to the IRBU Policy.
Are there preferred file types?
In order to ensure the long term usability of content it is recommended that content be submitted in either a common file type or in an open source file protocol. Information about recommended file types can be found in the IRBU Policy.
I don’t have electronic versions of old working papers that I’d like to include in the repository. Is it okay to scan the printed page to a PDF file?
In order to ensure any document submitted to IRBU is searchable, the document should be a (a) born digital publication or (b) a copy of a document that was not originally in a digital format (e.g. a document created by a typewriter) but that has had optical character recognition (OCR) applied to it.
Does IRBU accept data?
No. All data will be housed at the Brandon University instance of Dataverse. Scholars can get an account at Dataverse and manage all uploads to it. For questions about data storage and Dataverse, please contact Carmen Kazakoff-Lane.
Who can contribute content to IRBU?
Members of the Brandon University community may submit content. BU community members include individuals or groups affiliated with a BU department, program, research team, working group, collaborative project, or conference, such as:
- Current and former BU faculty, researchers, and employees
- BU faculties, departments, and schools
- BU research institutes
- Undergraduate and graduate students with faculty sponsorship
What about copyright?
Canadian copyright law applies to all submissions. As such, contributors must either (a) hold the copyright for submitted material(s) or (b) have explicit, written permission from the copyright holder for the material(s).
What do I need to do first?
Review the content and submission guidelines outlined in the IRBU Policy.
How do I submit my content for inclusion in IRBU?
If you have materials you would like to submit content to IRBU, please visit the Submission page to view and fill out the appropriate submission form. You may also request a faculty profile page in IRBU via the Submission page.
Questions regarding the submission process can be sent to the IRBU Working Group at [email protected]
How do I sponsor student research for inclusion in IRBU?
Approved graduate theses and any associated files can be submitted to IRBU in conjunction with a BU Thesis Permission Form. This form grants the John E. Robbins Library the right to make the thesis openly available. To complete the submission please visit the Submission page to view and fill out the applicable submission form.
Exceptional undergraduate research requires permission from the student and a formal recommendation from a faculty member or department outlining the value of the work in question. To complete the submission please visit the Submission page to view and fill out the non-thesis form with the permission and recommendation information given in the "supporting documentation" area.
Questions regarding the sponsorship of student research or the submission process can be sent to the IRBU Working Group at [email protected]
How can I submit a multi-part file, such as multiple chapters from the same book?
Submission forms allow for multiple documents to be uploaded on a single permission form.
Can I post related files (sound clips, data sets, etc.) alongside the published article?
Some related files can be submitted to IRBU, such as sound clips, videos, posters, etc. These items will be linked together as "compound objects" within IRBU. However, associated data sets will need to be submitted to Dataverse and then a link provided in the metadata in IRBU that will direct users to the dataset.
Can I submit my article here and to a journal publisher?
The IRBU Working Group recommends that researchers submit their articles to the desired journal publishers first and then follow the open access/self-archiving guidelines set out by the publisher that accepts the manuscript for publication. Information about open access publishers can be found in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Specific information about what various funders mandate researchers do with their research (including recommended journals, etc.) can be found at Sherpa Juliet.
Can I post a reprint from a journal?
Individual journals set their own guidelines with regard to open access/self-archiving that authors are required to comply with. What the journal allows is usually specified in the agreement made with/signed by the author(s). If posting the reprint won’t violate copyright, you are welcome to submit the reprint to IRBU. For information about publishers’ policies around self-archiving please consult SHERPA / RoMEO.
Does submitting an article to IRBU count as publication for the purpose of making the article open access?
If the article has been accepted for publication by a journal then placing a copy of the article in IRBU means it has been made into a Green Open Access article (i.e. it is in a journal but a copy of it resides in the repository.) Most journals allow for this and some have an embargo period if you wish to upload the final accepted article. For information about publishers’ policies around self-archiving please consult SHERPA / RoMEO.
Submission to institutional repositories is not generally acknowledged as a method of formal publication. However, should you wish to submit/make openly available original content to IRBU that has not otherwise been published, you are welcome to do so.
How do I revise a submission?
Please contact the IRBU Working Group at [email protected] outlining the proposed revision(s) and the Working Group will provide assistance.
A working paper in our repository has been published in a slightly revised form in a journal. What should I do?
Many journals do not have any restrictions on working papers that preceded an article, especially if substantial revisions were made. You should check your author agreement with the journal to confirm that there is no problem with leaving the working paper in IRBU. Leaving the working paper in IRBU would constitute noncommercial use.
Assuming the working paper does remain in IRBU, it is a good idea to include the citation to the published article on the cover page of the version of the working paper kept in IRBU and/or include a link to the published article in the metadata for the working paper. Please contact the IRBU Working Group to request this change.
Is all of the content in IRBU available to the public?
IRBU is primarily intended to be an open access repository. As such, content in IRBU is made available for viewing/listening with the exception of the following:
- embargoed content that will be released for viewing once the embargo has ended
- music performances that will remain restricted to the public until artist permissions can be secured or copyright for the recording expires
- images from the Brandon University Art Collection that will remain restricted to the public until artist permissions can be secured or copyright for the image expires
How can I use the materials in IRBU?
Generally, content in IRBU is provided for educational and research purposes only. Information about use and reproduction for archival collections, as well as appropriate credit lines, can be found in the item description for each record. For non-archival collections, additional rights associated with each record may be granted by the copyright holder via a Creative Commons License that may permit others to either remix or adapt a work (e.g. adapt for handicapped viewers, adapt languages, etc.). If a Creative Commons License has been granted by the copyright holder for an item in IRBU, this will be noted in the description for that item.
How should I cite content found in IRBU?
APA, Chicago and MLA citations for items are provided in IRBU. For help citing using other citation styles, please consult their related citation guides or contact the Reference desk in the John E. Robbins Library for assistance.
For archival collections in IRBU, please see the “Credit Line” field in the item description for appropriate citations.
Does IRBU provide me with metrics for my research?
No. This function is under development.
I’ve already published it, so why should I put it in IRBU?
IRBU offers a number of advantages to you, as a researcher:
- Your research will be more easily discovered in common Internet search engines and academic search portals when it is described and available in an openly accessible repository (vs. exclusively behind a pay wall)
- IRBU presents the work as part of the BU community of expertise.
- IRBU makes exchange of information with peers cheaper and easier by providing open access to your research outputs.
Can I get an account for IRBU?
No. IRBU accounts are held only by members of the IRBU Working Group. Not having an account does not prevent BU community members from submitting content or requesting metrics (e.g. citation counts, etc.) for your copyrighted materials held in IRBU.
Who should I contact if I have a question about IRBU?
For more information about IRBU, see the IRBU Policy or contact the IRBU Working Group at [email protected]
What is Arca?
Arca is a collaborative initiative to support the development and implementation of digital repositories primarily at BC post-secondary institutions. Arca provides access to post-secondary institutional digital assets and research output via a cross-repository search layer. Participating institutions share a single repository, with individual customized website interfaces providing portals to their own content. Arca houses a broad variety of institutional knowledge, including scholarly material and digital assets such as administrative documents, newsletters, images, multimedia, and audiovisual materials.
Arca is built on Islandora, a Canadian-developed open-source platform currently in use at over 100 public and private institutions worldwide. This shared platform provides post-secondary institutions with open-access repositories for research, theses, and any other digital assets they wish to make available to the wider community.