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July 3, 2024 – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries, the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) and University of Toronto Libraries, are collaboratively developing a National Institutional Repository Service (‘Scholaris’) to be hosted by Scholars Portal. Starting with an Early Adopter program of a limited number of institutions, the goal is to build Scholaris into a robust and scalable multi-institutional opt-in national repository service – one that is strengthened by a responsive, collaborative community of experts and repository practitioners. Scholars Portal will provide reliable technical hosting, security measures, monitoring, and technical support in line with other services currently being offered, with the potential for integrating digital preservation and other services/workflows as a benefit to participating organizations.

With the decision to implement this national DSpace-based service, the establishment of specialized expert groups becomes essential. These groups will play a pivotal role, lending expertise and support to the fundamental segments of the project. Participation offers a chance to help shape the national infrastructure service. 

We are inviting expressions of interest for a new expert group related to this work: 

• Scholaris Digital Preservation Expert Group (S-DPEG)

Applicants should work at institutions that plan to migrate to the new service, whether as an early adopter or in a subsequent phase. They should be willing to dedicate 5-10 hours monthly to the Team’s objectives. We are seeking up to 10 representatives for the group, with the goal of ensuring diversity of members across institutional size; in regional and linguistic representation; and in relevant knowledge, experience and/or responsibilities. At least 4 members will be selected from among CARL member institutions.

Scholaris Digital Preservation Expert Group (S-DPEG)

S-DPEG will be instrumental in charting a path to shared, common, and otherwise operationalized digital preservation practices that support the long-term accessibility and integrity of digital materials managed within the Scholaris service. For further details, please refer to the Terms of Reference.

The Expert Group will operate under the aegis of CARL’s Shared Repositories Infrastructure Advisory Committee (SRIAC) and engage in close collaboration with the Visiting Program Officer (VPO) for Metadata and CARL’s partnership with OpenAIRE. The VPO liaises with the Scholars Portal team and SRIAC to coordinate and assess priorities based on input from experts. During initial discussions about the Digital Preservation Expert Group, it became evident that Julie Shi, the Digital Preservation Librarian at Scholars Portal, would be best positioned not only to be one of the experts but also to chair the group. We are pleased to confirm that she graciously accepted this role. 

Instructions

Please send a brief statement outlining your interest in serving on the group, noting your relevant experience, and a letter of endorsement from the Library Dean/Director, to Elizabeth Kalbfleisch, Senior Program Officer, elizabeth.kalbfleisch@carl-abrc.ca no later than July 15, 2024.