Guidelines for the operation of the Institutional Repository KOPS (Konstanz Online Publication System) of the University of Konstanz

1. Objectives and content criteria of the Institutional Repository of the University of Konstanz

The Institutional Repository KOPS (Konstanz Online Publication System) offers all members of the University of Konstanz the organizational and technical framework for the digital publication of scientific documents. As part of this service of the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz, scientific documents are provided in compliance with quality standards on the Internet for research and teaching. The electronic documents receive permanent addresses and are accessible via national and international library catalogues, search engines and other reference tools. Furthermore, long-term archiving of digital publications is guaranteed (for at least ten years). During the operation and further development of the Institutional Repository, recommendations and standardizations of national and international initiatives such as the German Initiative for Networked Information or the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) are integrated.

2. The collective contract of the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz for digital documents

The collective order of the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz consists of collecting, cataloguing and archiving all digital, scientific documents published by members of the University of Konstanz. This refers both to purely digital publications as well as digital versions of printed documents. The copyrights of the author remain unchanged. The publication in KOPS does not conflict with an additional publication of documents in journals or monographs or on other servers. In accordance with the recommendations of the Science Council and in accordance with the objective of the University of Konstanz to create a full text university bibliography, all researchers of the University of Konstanz are asked to secure a further right to use and publish their documents when signing a publishing contract and in addition - possibly after a lock-up period - to publish documents on the document server. The Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz provides advising regarding the observance of copyright and exploitation rights. The observance of these rights is the responsibility of the author / editor of the digital documents. Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice can be found at Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

3. The digital document

Within these guidelines, the term "digital document" is defined as a document based on text and graphics stored in digital form on a data carrier and is distributed via computer networks. In the future, the aim is to expand the concept to multimedia documents that include audio and video sequences. A document to be published through the Institutional Repository must meet with the following conditions:

  • It is intended for dissemination to the public.
  • It is not a dynamic document. Should any modifications be necessary, the modified digital document will be stored as a new version.
  • It corresponds to the technical parameters specified by the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz.

The contents of the documents are described formally by the author or an agent through a www-form and then entered into the Institutional Repository. These data are available for an agreed period of time (at least ten years). Finally published documents will not be changed or deleted. This guarantees the authenticity of the documents that are comparable with printed publications. Deletions can be performed only at the request of the author by a responsible member of the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM), for example, if a parallel publication leads to conflicts with commercial publishers. If, as an exception, the deletion of a document is required, the DNB will continue to resolve the persistent URI, but it will no longer refer to the full text of the publication. The bibliographical information also will no longer be displayed. Instead, a page will appear informing the reader about the deletion. As the URI will remain, the information that the corresponding publication existed but was withdrawn will remain available. Excluded from the possibility to delete are dissertations, which were published to fulfil the publishing obligation specified in the PhD regulations. Should the author request a correction, he must enter the revised document anew. This corresponds to a new edition in printed publications. The content classification of the documents is carried out by the author using free keywords or one or more of the classification codes (e.g. PACS, MSC, JEL, CSS) Each publication will also receive a DDC notation.

4. Electronic documents that are published and distributed through the Institutional Repository

The following categories of electronic documents are stored and distributed via the Institutional Repository of the University of Konstanz:

  • Current publications and copies of previously published documents by members of the University of Konstanz with scientific content,
  • publication series of the University of Konstanz,
  • publications and publication series such as compilations, conference papers, research reports, journals (e-journals) or series published by members of the University of Konstanz,
  • documents whose disclosure is required by examination regulations (theses and dissertations),
  • publications and publication series of institutions and individuals associated with the University of Konstanz,
  • theses of students from the University of Konstanz such as Diplom, exam, Bachelor's, Magister or Master's theses,
  • documents of scientific relevance in the context of regional and national collective tasks of the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz.

5. Technical characteristics of the Institutional Repository of the University of Konstanz

  • The digital documents are given individual and permanent addresses that enable direct access to the documents. The addresses are registered as URNs (Uniform Resource Name) at the German National Library. The administration and maintenance of PURLs (Persistent URLs) is guaranteed by the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz.
  • Finding digital documents is possible through KOPS, library catalogues, bibliographic searches of metadata, as well as national and regional library systems, and OAI service providers (such as OAIster).
  • For classification, storage and archiving of digital documents and for the exchange of metadata, international standards such as the guidelines of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) and the German Initiative for Networked Information are used.
  • The archival life of the format depends on the availability of the format, the viewing software as well as the conversion options. The archiving period is at least ten years

6. Organizational rules

  • The Institutional Repository is operated by the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz. KOPS is available 24/7.
  • The digital publication is free of charge for members of the University of Konstanz and members of associated facilities.
  • The delivery of digital documents for distribution via the Institutional Repository takes place in the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz.
  • Additional work necessary for publication, such as the processing of digital documents or conversion to other formats is carried out or supervised by the staff of the Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) of the University of Konstanz upon request.