Developing a Digital Scholarship Ecosystem

Abstract

This research presents elements necessary to develop a Digital Scholarship Research Ecosystem for a university, college or research institution. Software systems, hardware, human resources and timelines are outlined with brief theoretical overviews and a pragmatic focus on 'open-source' (freely available) software, best-in-class applications and global best practices. Major digital scholarly system components in a larger digital ecosystem are discussed: Online Institutional Collection Repositories (D-SPACE), Online Research Data Repositories (DATAVERSE), Identity Management Systems (ORCID), Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Management Systems (VIREO), Academic Journal Systems (OJS3), Digitization Labs, User Interface Software (OMEKA). System assessment, synergistic possibilities and future directions are reviewed. This research arises from a successful five-year phased implementation of such a digital ecosystem for Texas State University Libraries, a large US university research library system. This scholarly ecosystem is suitable for any university, college, research institution or academic research library interested in setting up or building on such an infrastructure and enabling faculty and graduate students with their scholarly research online.