New Falvey digital initiative enables faculty research and scholarly materials to be readily discovered on the Web

Falvey Memorial Library has created a virtual repository that will allow for both exposure and preservation of Villanova University’s faculty members’ written work. Falvey acknowledges the professional necessity for University professors to have their scholarship available, recognized and widely read.

In conjunction with University librarian Joseph Lucia’s recently distributed technology agenda, the Library will focus on increasing the visibility of the intellectual output of the University’s faculty. This initiative will create an environment where citations and content are accessible on the Web. It is Falvey's goal to build a digital community comprised of various collections.

“The Villanova Digital Collection,” one part of The Digital Library of Villanova University being created by Falvey, is the interdisciplinary home where professional and research content can be stored, documented, described and accessed online, allowing colleagues, peers, students and administrators to see the scope and depth of faculty research and publications. The Library is now offering a superior solution for maintenance, distribution and consultation of what has probably been stored on hard drives or discs and listed on web sites. Faculty may begin to make submissions at any time by going to www.digitalcollection.villanova.edu.

The DSpace system was chosen by Falvey Memorial Library’s digital projects team to manage the digital archive of content because it is the easiest and best way for any kind of file, from text documents like syllabi and pre-prints to complex datasets and digital video, to be automatically organized and searchable at a static URL for long-term access via the Internet. With the additional power of this indexing tool not only can a faculty bibliography become visible, but the functional preservation of digital items, including the associated descriptors (metadata), will evolve with electronic technology media and remain in an available format.

Because author control is important, we ask that faculty submit the digital content or at least an abstract to accompany the citation when possible. Supplying full-text of one's written work is typically covered by the self-archiving clause in publishing contracts.

Please contact Darren G. Poley, the Library’s coordinator of programming and outreach, at 610-519-6371 if you have any questions. If you have trouble submitting content we will gladly assist you or train a graduate assistant. This new uniform presence and remote access from one interface will showcase your scholarship and Villanova University to a worldwide audience in a way that is truly revolutionary.