Mission
The University of Iowa Libraries' Digital Research & Publishing department facilitates the creation, use, and preservation of digital content by offering a wide array of resources and services to faculty, academic departments, centers and institutes, and librarians in support of teaching, learning, research, scholarship, and creative activities.
Digital Research & Publishing works in close cooperation with other campus units including Information Technology Services in order to coordinate efforts, reduce duplicate infrastructure, and maximize efficient and effective use of campus technology resources. The department provides outreach and leadership for digital initiatives throughout the state and participates locally and nationally in the development of digital library standards and best practices.
Guiding Principles
The resources and services offered by Digital Research & Publishing are shaped by a commitment to:
Access
Build highly usable and accessible collections to make resources available to as wide a range of researchers, scholars, students, and the general public as possible.
Preservation
Maintain and promote awareness and understanding of preservation of digital collections and take steps throughout the life cycle of digital materials to ensure ongoing access and usability.
Added Value
Enhance digital objects with rich descriptive and technical metadata to promote deeper analysis and greater understanding of the collections and materials.
Adoption of standards and best practices
Promote the use of standards, best practices, and open systems whenever possible to ensure longevity of an ongoing access to digital resources.
Respect for intellectual property
Provide mechanisms for managing rights and ensuring only authorized access to restricted resources in order to protect the rights of intellectual property owners and comply with the terms of binding agreements.
Efficient use of resources
Establish partnerships with other campus units, peer institutions, Regents universities, and other organizations to make the best use of available resources.
