Thursday, May 9, 4:00-5:00pm
Room: Barrick Gold Lecture Room (1520)
Building Frameworks for Assessing Digital Research Projects and Early Digital Publishing Services at UH Libraries 
Taylor Davis-Van Atta, University of Houston Libraries
Description: In February 2018, University of Houston (UH) Libraries launched the Digital Research Commons (DRC), a space dedicated to facilitating library-sponsored digital research projects and providing instructional programming around open scholarly practices. By November 2018, the DRC had interacted with 17 departments, 5 colleges, 29 faculty members, and dozens of graduate students at various levels of engagement, from project design consultations to an array of data-oriented workshops to partnerships on 10 digital research projects. In support of these activities, DRC staff has piloted new workflows with several units across the Libraries, including collaborations that build capacity to host and present bespoke research projects and outputs. From the start, the matter of assessing this broad range of activities has been a priority for DRC staff, especially since few standards exist for the evaluation of individual born-digital projects or of digital research operations as a whole. Based on content analysis of 24 DRC sponsored project applications, this presentation details the methods used by UH librarians to establish frameworks for assessing sponsored research projects and operations, and how this assessment process has informed our early publishing efforts.
Bridging the Gap: Digital Humanities to Digital Monographs
Sarah McKee, Emory University
Description: Emory University, with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is experimenting with processes to guide faculty in the development and publication of open access/digital monographs. Multiple units at Emory, in the library and beyond, are collaborating to help faculty authors bridge the gap between their digital humanities projects and the formal, peer-reviewed publications required for tenure and promotion. The session will include an overview of the process to date and showcase a few monographs-in-progress, ranging in form from enhanced e-books to born-digital interactive works.
Navigating Support for Digital Projects: A Suggested Workflow for Non-Traditional Publications
Corinne Guimont, Virginia Tech
Description: Digital projects incorporate various tools and technologies to analyze and present research in new ways. These projects range from online exhibits to digital archives. There are many steps in the development process and faculty all differ in their support needs. In this presentation, I will discuss a potential workflow that addresses common needs for this work and how we as publishers can fit into the support process.
Each digital project should arguably go through four different stages in its lifetime. A prototype stage that addresses the design, format, technology needs, involved personnel and more. The next phase is a sort of incubation period where most of the work is done. This phase includes any potential grant writing, technology development, documentation, and a sustainability plan. Following the creation of the project, there is a production phase where the project is live and regularly maintained and updated as needed. The final phase is the archive phase when the project is no longer live, but the pieces of the project are archived. With this workflow in mind, I will discuss different types of projects and how they may potentially fit into these phases as well as how we can best support this workflow as library publishers.