Digital Commons to Hyku: An Institutional Repository Migration at a Small Liberal Arts University

Abstract

Introduction: Pacific University Libraries has had an institutional repository since 2009, when it selected Digital Commons to host a collection of theses and dissertations. Since then, the scope of the services has grown to include publishing open access journals as well as housing the books published by Pacific University Press—a library-born, hybrid, open access press. As our needs have changed, and with Elsevier’s acquisition of bepress in 2017, the University migrated from bepress’ Digital Commons platform to an open source Hyku platform hosted by Ubiquity Repositories. Description of Program: As the first academic institution working with Ubiquity Repositories on migration and implementation, we were involved in the process of data extraction, normalization, mapping, ingest, and validation. Lessons Learned: We learned the importance of having a mutual understanding of a platform’s goals, data structure and mapping, and standards in implementation decisions. Next Steps: As higher education continues to adapt to the changes brought by COVID-19, it has never seemed more important to utilize platforms that share the values of libraries worldwide. We hope that migrating to an open source platform will be a step toward more open scholarship, despite the current challenges and resource scarcity brought about by the pandemic.