Columbia Pubscape: A Core Integration System for a National Science Digital Library Publishing Center

Under the auspices of the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC), a

university-based organization involving the university press, the libraries, and the

Academic Information Systems computing center, we are creating mechanisms for the

development, implementation, and sustainability of innovative, cost-efficient, and high

quality digital library resources designed for the enhancement of teaching and learning in

science. Utilizing our experience in creating 'Columbia International Affairs Online' and

'Columbia Earthscape,' the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia is developing

models for rights management, sustainability, content development, interoperability,

business partnerships, and archiving systems necessary to create an effective Core

Integration System for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). Expected outcomes

of the project include the development of a set of scalable organizational and operational models for the successful implementation and long-term sustainability of the NSDL.

Specifically, we are creating in this project (or * plan to create in the future in follow-on work):

1. an intellectual property and rights management system that can be employed for digital rights management for the NSDL.

2. business models, license agreements, pricing, sales, and sustainability mechanisms for use by the NSDL.

3. * system and staffing models for developmental editing of educational materials contributed to the NSDL with the goal of transforming them into professional-quality teaching tools for use on a large scale by educators and students.

4. system and staffing models for site design, production, interoperability, and security systems necessary for the effective operation of the NSDL.

5. * models for partnerships with outside content providers such as scholarly societies, not-for-profit organizations, and commercial publishers for licensing of content, joint development of intellectual property, and collaborative ventures that will result in the availability of valuable content for inclusion in the NSDL.

6. * models for the archiving and preservation of content in the NSDL with the goal of insuring reliable and perpetual access to the collection.