MOSAIC is an acronym for Messiah's Open Scholarship And Intellectual Creativity. This Institutional Repository (IR) brings together all of Messiah University's research, history, and creative works under one umbrella, with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research.
IRs are an excellent vehicle for working papers or copies of published articles and conference papers. Presentations, senior projects, and other works not published elsewhere can also be published in the IR.
To learn more about institutional repositories or open access, please visit our IR Welcome Guide.
We welcome your questions and comments! Send an email to mosaic@messiah.edu
Messiah University Institutional Repository
Collection Development Policy
Purpose/Mission
The institutional repository of Messiah University, named “Mosaic,” collects, preserves, and disseminates quality scholarship, creative works, and historical collections designed to fulfill the scholarly needs of the educational mission and benefit the worldwide community. The repository facilitates the discovery of collections that often are not accessible elsewhere, and provides an open-access platform for research produced by faculty, co-curricular educators, and students.
Types of Content Collected
The institutional repository of Messiah University is interested in sharing a broad range of content related to Messiah University and the output of its educational community. A faculty member (including emeriti members), employee, student, alumnus, organization, or department of Messiah University must produce the work submitted. The work must be creative or scholarly in nature, research-oriented, or of institutional significance.
Content submissions may include (but are not limited to):
- Formal publications from journals and books
- Other products of faculty scholarship which are not represented in formal publications
- Faculty-created course materials including open education resources, textbooks, syllabi, lab manuals, data sets, etc.
- Conference posters and papers
- Exemplary undergraduate or graduate student work produced for any course, research projects, capstones, etc.
- Undergraduate honors papers and projects
- Graduate and doctoral projects and theses
- Noteworthy student works created outside of the classroom environment
- Messiah produced faculty or student journals
- Ongoing, collaborative projects and collections created or managed by Messiah University
- Historic content related to the history of Messiah University and its founding and the Brethren in Christ denomination
Technical Requirements:
- There is no file size limit.
- Most common file formats are acceptable (pdf, Word, image, audio, video, etc.).
- Digitization of print-only materials is the responsibility of the submitting group or individual.
- Departmental, program, or library reviewers will deem whether the submission is formatted properly and of high enough digital resolution for long-term preservation and access.
Submission process
All contributors to Messiah’s repository are required to complete a submission form along with a digital copy of the work submitted. The author will provide metadata information describing the work and virtually sign a license agreement granting the managers of the repository the right to use the work as defined in the agreement. Submission does not guarantee acceptance or publishing in the repository.
With each submission, specific metadata will be required to be provided by the contributor. Metadata, or 'data about data,' is the basis for records of files in the repository. Metadata aids in discovery and identification of items, so accurate and complete metadata provided by the contributor will make files easier for researchers to find works and understand the context in which it was created. Metadata content might include but is not limited to:
- Name of author/creator
- Title of work
- Name of publication in which work originally appeared or conference/event at which it originally was presented
- Publication or presentation date
- A brief abstract describing the content of the work
- Suggested tags or keywords
- Contact information
- IRB approval number
For student and alumnus work (only)
Faculty, advisors, and supervisors can nominate exemplary student work for inclusion, though the student will need to consent and is solely responsible to submit the necessary metadata and original work. Students are encouraged to nominate their own content for inclusion in the repository.
Academic student works will only be published in the repository with the initial approval of the supervisor, professor, or advisor and the final approval coming from the department or school from which the content originated. The repository intends to exemplify the best scholarship and creative works produced by undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate departments, non-departmental programs, and graduate programs will submit exemplary student work. These entities reserve the right to determine the review criteria, control the qualifications of exemplary content for their field, and meet on an as-needed basis to vet submissions to the standards of their respective subject areas. All nominated and self-submitted student works will be assessed with this procedure. Students will be notified by email with a decision regarding the status of their submission.
Alumni can self-nominate outstanding works created during their tenure as a student of Messiah University. Submission must be deposited in a digital format. The work will automatically be assigned for review to the undergraduate department, non-departmental program, or graduate program from which the work originated or is most closely aligned within the present day departmental structure. In addition to the review criteria independently determined by these entities, the work should also be refereed on its current or enduring research value to users. Alumni will be notified by email with a decision regarding the status of their submission.
Copyright and Ethical Considerations
The copyright holder retains the rights for all works submitted to the repository. In the case of all previously unpublished works, the author is the copyright holder. For formally published works (journal articles, books, book chapters), authors may have transferred copyright to another entity. Inclusion of the repository requires that the copyright holder allow the non-exclusive, royalty-free right to distribute and preserve the work submitted.
If a work has not been previously published, it is the author’s responsibility to ensure that the work does not include illegal use of intellectual property created by others, including text, images, video, music or other materials. Authors should be able to document that such materials are covered under the fair use clause of copyright law, that the works are in the public domain, or that the author has obtained permission from the copyright holder to redistribute the material. Citing a source is not the same as obtaining copyright permission.
If a work has been previously published (ex: journal article, book chapter, book), the author or creator is responsible to seek permission from the copyright holder before the work is posted in the repository. When copyright permissions to post any portion of the work cannot be obtained, descriptive entries and hyperlinks may be added to aid discoverability.
If research includes human or animal subjects, please consult the website for the Institutional Review Board for guidelines and procedures (see https://www.messiah.edu/info/20241/institutional_review_board). Research involving human or animal subjects must have been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to conducting research. An IRB approval number needs to be submitted in conjunction with the final work intended for inclusion in the repository.
If work includes interviews, recordings or transcripts, a permission statement from the interviewee(s) is necessary to make their interviews public.
User Rights and Responsibilities
- All users must respect the intellectual property rights of the copyright holder. Any use which exceeds personal use or fair use under U.S. copyright law may require permission from the copyright owner.
- For previously unpublished scholarly or creative works, the right to download or print any portion of this material is granted by the copyright owner only for personal or educational use. The author/creator retains all proprietary rights, including copyright ownership. Any editing, other reproduction or other use of this material by any means requires the express written permission of the copyright owner.
- Material may not be copied, distributed, displayed, altered, or used for commercial purposes, unless specified by a Creative Commons License.
- Except as provided above, or for any other use that is allowed by fair use (Title 17, §107 U.S.C.), you may not reproduce, republish, post, transmit or distribute any material from this web site in any physical or digital form without the permission of the copyright owner (not necessarily the author) of the material.
Embargo Option
Copyright holders may request an embargo of works for intervals of one to five years and can be renewed by email. Embargoed content remains in the IR but only the metadata is viewable by readers.
Withdrawing Content
While unlikely to occur, Messiah University may remove content from the repository without notice.
An author or copyright holder may notify the manager of the Messiah University digital repository and request that content be removed as soon as practical. Contact information for withdrawing content will be made available on the repository’s website. Typically, individual works in journals, anthologies, or collections published by Messiah University or one of our partner organizations, once published, cannot be revised or removed.
Governance
Content will be added to the repository on a regular, though fluctuating basis, dependent on departmental approvals and available time of library personnel.
The library committee is responsible for regular review and edits of policies related to the repository. Supervision to the workflow of submissions will be reviewed and addressed on an as needed basis and will be addressed by the committee. The annual budget and statistical data will also be approved and evaluated yearly by the committee.
