CONDOR Frequenty Asked Questions


Statement of Purpose
The purpose of the Central Michigan University digital object repository is to collect, preserve, disseminate and showcase the digital resources of Central Michigan University.

What is CONDOR (Central Michigan University’s ONline Digital Object Repository)?
CONDOR is Central Michigan University’s institutional digital object repository. It is intended to provide a permanent, safe, and accessible service for representing the intellectual output of the University community. It will provide long-term preservation of its content. As a digital repository, CONDOR was created to hold the electronic full-text of peer-reviewed published articles, conference papers, book chapters, theses and dissertations, university documents, publications and archives, other forms of written research and creative works. Research datasets, sound and image collections, multimedia, software, other forms of research data, learning objects and other course-related materials are welcomed and encouraged.

CONDOR’s primary goal is to promote the research and creativity of the faculty, staff and students of Central Michigan University and to allow works to be shared, discovered and disseminated. Deposited materials cover an extensive range of subjects and disciplines. Depositing objects in CONDOR can fulfill grant requirements that call for distribution of the project research and findings in an open access environment.

Why would I contribute objects to CONDOR?
There are several benefits to you as the author/creator to adding objects to CONDOR. Among these is that open access:

  • Makes your research more visible through federated searching and through search engines such as Google.
  • Results in your work being cited up to 30% more than work not in a repository.
  • Shifts the burden of preservation from the individual to the institution.
  • Provides (with permission) access to articles published in journals to which the university does not subscribe.
  • Provides a venue for making unpublished works visible and discoverable.
  • Provides a place to showcase and coordinate student research.
  • Consolidates the storage for easy access by everyone and eliminates the need to search and maintain multiple websites.
  • Preserves digital objects in up-to-date formats.
  • Leverages the advantages of open access publishing.
  • Allows you to easily discover the research of your colleagues.
  • Provides a place to showcase special collections, performances, and images.
  • Registers your ideas and establishes your intellectual property rights.
  • Creates an opportunity to promote collaboration.

What does CONDOR collect?

  • The work must be produced or sponsored by CMU faculty, staff, students, or academic departments.
  • The work must be educational, artistic, or research-oriented.
  • The work must be a completed version, ready for distribution.
  • All of the authors/owners must be willing and able to grant the non-exclusive right to preserve and disseminate the work via CONDOR.
  • Copyright holders, if other than the authors/owners, must grant non-exclusive right to preserve and disseminate the work via CONDOR.
Examples of these works include:
  • Articles, preprints, working papers, technical reports, conference papers, web-based exhibits/presentations, etc.
  • Books
  • Theses and dissertations
  • Data sets
  • Visualizations, simulations, and other models
  • Multimedia
  • Learning objects
  • PowerPoint presentations and posters

Why was CONDOR created?
The purpose of CONDOR is to collect, preserve, disseminate, and showcase the digital resources of Central Michigan University. As an institutional repository it brings together all of the University's research under one umbrella, with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research. For additional background view the CONDOR Policies and Guidelines and the About CONDOR webpages.

Who manages CONDOR?
CONDOR is managed by an interdepartmental team (the Repository Team) representing a cross-section of the university community. The Repository Team is responsible for establishing policies and procedures and for developing and offering training on the use of the repository. The makeup of the team may vary from year to year. The University Libraries maintains responsibility for assigning authoritative tagging to the repository objects.

Who can add content to CONDOR?
Central Michigan University currently employed or emeriti faculty and staff can contribute content to CONDOR. Student contributions should be approved and submitted by a faculty member. FERPA guidelines (http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html) must be considered when dealing with student works.

Contributions can be made to CONDOR through the Submit an Item link on the CONDOR homepage http://repository.cmich.edu. If you have questions, contact the Repository Team at condor@cmich.edu.

How can I add content to CONDOR?
To contribute your work to CONDOR, follow the Submit an Item link on the CONDOR homepage. Please complete the Author Agreement Form. Then complete the object submission form. For additional information view Policies and Guidelines.

If you have questions, contact the Repository Team at condor@cmich.edu.

Do I retain the intellectual property rights to my content?
Yes, you retain all intellectual property rights. The limited rights you grant to CONDOR are non-exclusive, and your ability to grant, assign, or retain any and all rights you had before your deposit does not change as a result of your deposit.

Honoring your rights as a creator is a fundamental aspect of the University’s mission and that of the Repository. The Author Deposit Agreement ensures that you retain all your intellectual property rights when depositing your work. The only exception is the University policy on works for hire which are deemed the property of the University. For more information on works for hire, go to http://www.orsp.cmich.edu/pdf/ipr.pdf.

For additional information see the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs intellectual property rights policy at http://www.orsp.cmich.edu/Policies.htm

To view the Author Deposit Agreement, go to http://condor.cmich.edu/cmu_docs/CONDOR-Author-Agreement.pdf.

What rights do I grant the University when I deposit my work in CONDOR?
When you agree to our standard "Author Deposit Agreement" at the time of deposit you grant CONDOR the non-exclusive right to:

  • retain, reproduce, and disseminate the deposited work;
  • keep more than one copy of your work for purposes of security, backup, preservation, and access, and;
  • migrate work to any future medium or format for the purpose of preservation and access.

Do I retain copyright permissions?
You retain the copyright to all materials to which you own the copyright. Often the journal or book publisher is the copyright holder, in which case the Repository Team will assist you in gaining permission to submit the item to the Repository. See the How do I obtain copyright permission? section below for more information.

If you own the copyright to the object you are contributing, simply include a statement such as "I own the copyright to the object" in the Enter a URL / special instructions section of the form.

For more information on the University’s copyright policy go to http://cmich.edu/copyright/default.htm.

How do I obtain copyright permission?
If you are not the copyright owner of the object or are unsure whether you are the legal copyright owner:

  • The Repository Team will assume that you do not own the copyright and will contact the publisher for permission to add the object to the repository. In some cases, the Repository Team may have already received blanket permission to add content from that publisher.
  • If you prefer to contact the publisher directly or the publisher indicated that the author must communicate directly, the Repository Team can assist you with locating the publisher’s contact information and can provide a copy of our standard permission request form. This form has been approved by the University’s General Counsel.

Does copyright Fair Use apply to CONDOR?
For information on the Fair Use section of the copyright law [sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act, Title 12, U.S. Code] go to http://www.copyright.gov/fls/f102.html.

Can I remove items from CONDOR?
CONDOR is designed to provide long-term, permanent access to the items you deposit. Common practice is to contribute a new version of the object in addition to the original version. However, it is acknowledged that circumstances may require the consideration of removal of an object from the repository. In those instances, a subcommittee of the Repository Team will review the request based on the Repository Withdrawal Policy.

Should an object be removed, it will be replaced with the citation and a notice such as "Removed from view..."

Can the Repository Team remove an item from CONDOR?
If the Repository Team becomes aware that an object is incomplete or incorrect, the object may be suppressed from view until the Repository Team can resolve the issue with the creator.

What should I do if I have a new version or edition of my work?
Add the new work to CONDOR, differentiating it from the original work by a version or edition statement in the "Description" field. The "Date" field will also serve to identify different versions of an object. Because of the archival nature of a digital repository, the original version of your work will remain in CONDOR along with subsequent versions.

Can I replace an item?
It is recommended that you submit the new version rather than replace an existing object. Should there be a need to replace an object, the Repository Withdrawal Policy will apply.

What are CONDOR’s policies?

What file formats are allowed in CONDOR?
Files of any type may be deposited in CONDOR. However, in selecting a file type, a depositor should consider its potential for compatibility with CONDOR users’ locally installed software. Unrecognized file formats are subject to review by Repository Team.

Examples of commonly recognizable file types include:

  • PDF (portable document format)
  • HTM/HTML (hyper text markup language)
  • RTF (Rich Text Format)
  • TXT (Plain text/text-only/ASCII/Unicode)
  • JPG/JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
  • GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
  • TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
  • SWF (Shockwave Format)
  • MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3)
  • MP4 (MPEG-4)

Should images be submitted in full resolution or a lower resolution?
Images should be submitted in the highest resolution possible. CONDOR will be set to automatically prepare and store a full resolution copy of the image on a local server. For information on protecting your images, view the Best Practices documentation.

Will someone change or review my submissions?
No one will change or review your contribution. A librarian will review the submission in order to assign and review the metadata. Metadata provides the description of the object. It includes such information as the author, title, keywords and format.

What should I do if I have a co-author who isn’t affiliated with CMU?
As long as your co-authors give permission to submit the work to CONDOR, you may contribute the work. Depositing a work into more than one digital repository is allowed. You could deposit the work in CONDOR and your co-author could deposit it into his or her institutional repository.

CONDOR has been referred to as an open archive. What does this mean?
The Open Archives Initiative was created to develop standards for the dissemination of information about the scholarly content available in digital archives. By developing standards, searching can occur across archives that are built with a variety of software products.

Can I deposit works that I created before I became affiliated with CMU?
You may contribute works that were created before you became affiliated with CMU. You should include information in the description field to acknowledge your affiliation at the time of the work's creation.

What happens to my deposited works if I leave CMU?
CONDOR is designed to be a permanent repository for your works. If you leave CMU, your works will be retained.

I only have print materials. Can I scan my work and deposit the files?
You may create a PDF version of print materials and contribute them to the Repository, or you may send the print copies to the Repository Team for scanning. To find out where to send print copies, contact the Repository Team at condor@cmich.edu.

If I submit pre-publications or unpublished data, what would prevent someone from stealing my research?
Since 1978, unpublished works have been protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17 U.S. Code). Items submitted to the Repository will include the date of submission and are protected by the same regulations as published works.

How do I cite an item from the Repository?

APA:
Smith, J.  (1927).  1928 historical calendar.  Retrieved February 28, 2008, from CMU's Online Digital Object 
Repository Web site: 
http://repository.cmich.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p1610-01coll1&CISOPTR=79&CISOBOX=1&REC=1.

MLA
Smith, John.  "1927 Historical Calendar."   CMU's Online Digital Object Repository Web.  1927.  Central Michigan 
University. 28 Feb. 2008 .

AAP citation for a data set [Note: Use "Available from" to indicate that the URL will lead users to a download 
site rather than directly to the data.]
Pew Hispanic Center. (2004). Changing channels and criss-crosing cultures: A survey of
    Latinos on the news media [Data file and code book]. Available from Pew
    Hispanic Center Web site: http://pewhispanic.org/datasets/

Contact Information
You may contact the Repository Team by sending an email to condor@cmich.edu.