Arca Partner Benefits & Responsibilities

The following outlines the benefits and responsibilities of participation in the Arca collaborative digital repository.

Benefits

Offering educators, researchers, and learners access to a digital repository service has become imperative for many Canadian organisations. Supporting a stand-alone digital repository is beyond the reach of many. However, participation in the Arca collaborative digital repository makes it possible through collaboration, cost-sharing, and coordination of infrastructure and resources.

By participating in Arca, sites are able to:

• Build for the future;
• Coordinate digital resource management efficiently;
• Comply with federal grant funding policies;
• Avoid costs through centralized coordination & licensing;
• Reinforce organisation brand position & prestige;
• Access the Arca Administrative Centre, including technical expertise, training, communication infrastructure, etc..

Requirements & Responsibilities

The Arca service can only be as robust as its members; Arca participants must meet the following requirements:

• Embrace Arca vision and values;
• Be operational in Canada and demonstrate a commitment to the principle of open access;
• Be a BC ELN Partner Library, meeting membership requirements for BC ELN Partner Libraries; OR
• Belong to a consortium or organisation with an existing relationship and a signed Letter of Understanding with BC ELN.

Responsibilities of Arca participants include:

• Provide a yearly Arca Service Support fee and possible implementation, advanced support, additional storage or withdrawal fees as set out in the current Arca Service Support Fee model;
• Designate a primary organisational contact for Arca;
• Participate actively in the Arca community of practice;
• Ensure that appropriate rights to upload content into Arca are obtained, and that content being uploaded does not infringe upon anyone's copyright;  
• Participate in Arca governance as per the Arca Advisory Committee Terms of Reference;
• Advocate for Arca within their organisation.

Responsibilities of the Arca Administrative Centre include:

• Implementation support;
• Front-line troubleshooting and technical support; liaison with service provider/development community on bugs;
• Management of the Arca enhancement process and liaison between participating organisations and service provider/development community on enhancement requests;
• Ongoing service support, including communications, repository staff and administrator training, coordination of service support fees, governance, and service provider negotiations.

Responsibilities of the Arca Advisory Committee include:

• Representing the interests and concerns of its constituent organisations;
• Providing guidance to BC ELN on digital repository development, implementation, and policy issues;
• Setting the yearly Arca Service Support Fee;
• Approving project budgets;
• Bringing forward issues and suggesting improvements;
• Carrying out research, or other work, in support of Arca and offering recommendations;
• Communicating regularly with colleagues on Arca's aims and progress;
• Monitoring and managing risks and mitigating threats to the viability of Arca;
• Reporting to the BC ELN Steering Committee.

Responsibilities of the BC ELN Steering Committee include:

• Overseeing the financial health of Arca;
• Endorsing the Arca strategic priorities;
• Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of Arca;
• Ensuring that Arca activities follow needs requirements of BC ELN initiatives;
• Monitoring and managing risks and mitigating threats to the viability of BC ELN.

Questions about Arca Benefits & Responsibilities can be directed to the Arca Administrative Centre.