Submission guidelines
The purpose of these guidelines are to ensure that E-LIS adopts recognised established practices for the creation of records. You will find more information at E-LIS help about the process.
- Contents accepted
- Types of documents accepted
- Submitting material
- Metadata
- Preservation of documents
Contents accepted
E-LIS archive accepts any scientific or technical document, published or unpublished, in Librarianship, Information Science and Technology, and related application activities in any language. The criteria for acceptance are that the documents are relevant to research in LIS fields and that they have the form of a finished document that is ready to be entered into a process of communication.
Types of documents accepted
Some examples of documents that E-LIS accommodates are:
- Books: Select for books or other monographs.
- Books chapters: Select for a part of book or other monographs.
- Preprints: Select if your title has not been published.
- Journal articles: Select this for all journal articles.
- Online/unpaginated
- Print/paginated
- Conference proceedings: Select only if you are depositing entire conference proceedings.
- Conference papers: Select only if you are depositing a single conference paper.
- Conference posters: Select only if you are depositing a single conference poster.
- Presentations: Select only if you are depositing a single conference presentation without conference paper.
- Theses: Select for any type of thesis, such as PhD, LLD, Masters.
- Working papers: Select only if you are depositing items such as
- Technical reports
- Departmental technical reports
- Projects/business plans
- Newspaper/magazine articles: Select this for all newspaper/magazine articles.
- Guides/manuals: Select for books or other monographs which clearly fit into guide/manual category.
- Tutorials: Select this for all online or printed tutorials. E.g.: a printed or online instructional tool designed to teach novices how to use a computer system or electronic resource, usually in a self-paced step-by-step manner, often with questions at the end for testing proficiency.
- Bibliographies: Select for monographs which clearly fit into the bibliography category.
- Library instructional material: Select for documents that teach librarians' issues.
- Datasets: Select only if you are depositing a logically meaningful collection or grouping of similar or related data, usually assembled as a matter of record or for research.
- Syllabus: Select only if you are depositing an outline of the topics to be covered in a formal course of study, given in the order in which they are to be discussed in class, with any assignments and related readings also indicated; it can be online.
- In collection: Select only if you are depositin a group of documents that have been collected in the same series.
This list is not closed. If you have any other type of document not present on this list, you can use the type Other.
Submitting material
See the E-LIS submission procedure for information on preparing material for submission.
Once your account has been activated, click on the "Begin a new item" button and login to begin the submission process. Each screen in the process is described below.
At any point in the submission process you can stop and save your record for a later date by clicking on the "save for later" button at the bottom of the page. The data you have already entered will be stored until you come back to the submission, and you will be reminded on your "Items in your Workspace" page that you have a submission in process. If you accidentally exit from the submission process, you can always resume from your "Items in your Workspace" page. You can also cancel your submission at any point.
The description of documents is based on the type of document. A book does not have the same fields as a conference paper. The software itself chooses which fields to show depending on type of document.
See The Depositing Process for more information.
Metadata
The purpose of accurate metadata is to make searches accurate, so that you can be confident that the document you provided will be the document retrieved, and not just one that sounds like it. E-LIS tries to minimise the information you are required to enter but the following information is necessary. Depending on the type of document, additional information may be required. We will use * for the obligatory fields:
- Books, Guides/manuals, Bibliographies, Library instructional material, Syllabus, tutorials
- Publication status*
- Author names *
- Editors names (not in Syllabus)
- Title*
- Subjects*
- Volume (present only in Books and Guides/Manuals)
- Series (present only in Books and Guides/Manuals)
- Year*
- Abstract*
- Publisher (not in Syllabus)
- Alternative locations
- Keywords*
- Language*
- Country*
- Book chapters
- Preprints
- Journal articles and Newspaper/magazine articles
- Conference proceedings
- Conference papers, conference posters and presentations
- Publication status*
- Refereed*
- Public domain*
- Author names*
- Title*
- Subjects*
- Year*
- Abstract*
- Conference*
- Pages (not for presentations)
- Conference date*
- Conference location*
- Volume (not for presentations)
- Number (not for presentations)
- Editors names (not for presentations)
- Publisher (not for presentations)
- Alternative locations
- Keywords*
- Language*
- Country*
- References
- Theses, thesis projects and dissertations
- Working papers : Technical reports, Departmental technical reports, reports and Projects/business plans
- Publication status*
- Refereed*
- Public domain*
- Author names*
- Title*
- Subjects*
- Year*
- Abstract*
- Department*
- Institution*
- Report n. (not for Project/business plans)
- Commentary on (not for Projects/business plans)
- Alternative locations
- Keywords*
- Language*
- Country*
- References
- Datasets and Other
- Publication status*
- Refereed*
- Public domain*
- Author names*
- Title*
- Subjects*
- Year*
- Abstract*
- Commentary on (not for Datasets)
- Alternative locations
- Additional information
- Keywords*
- Language*
- Country*
- References
- In collection
- Abstract
An account of the content of the document. If possible, cut and paste the abstract of the document directly from its contents (Be careful with PDF! You should check that the lines are in the correct position). If the document is in a language other than English, it must include an English abstract. The correct way is to use ["the language" abstract]. E.g.:
[Catalan abstract]
Internet ha canviat fonamentalment les realitats materials i econòmiques de la difusió del coneixement científic i del patrimoni cultural. Per primera vegada a la història Internet ens ofereix ara la possibilitat de constituir una representació global i interactiva del coneixement humà, tot incloent el patrimoni cultural i la garantia d'accés mundial.
[English abstract]
The Internet has fundamentally changed the practical and economic realities of distributing scientific knowledge and cultural heritage. For the first time ever, the Internet now offers the chance to cons itute a global and interactive representation of human knowledge, including cultural heritage and the guarantee of worldwide access.Abstract field will be used for other responsabilities. E.g.: translator or supervisor of theses. See: Editors Frequently Asked Questions
- Additional information
This field contains any descriptive information that has not been given in other areas of the description but that is considered important to users of bibliographic records. E.g.:
Work done in the III Workshop of Digital Libraries 2003- Alternative locations
If your document is available from other sites, please enter the URLs of your deposit on those sites here, including the initial http://. Please give the full URL of the document itself, and not just the hosting website. Alternative locations is not a required field.
- Author names
Author names are perhaps the most important piece of metadata about a document because the surname of the first author is one of the most significant distinguishing pieces of information about a document. As a self-archiver, it is likely that the name is either yours or that of one of your colleagues. Although it sounds patronising to emphasise it, please make sure you know how to spell this name. In particular, please be consistent with
- initials — how many names do you have? Which initials do you record on your papers?
- prefixes — are you known as "de Souza" or "deSouza"
It is important to think about these things, especially if you have delegated the responsibility of entering your documents to a secretary or student. The consequences of carelessness are that searches against your name (against what people think is your name) will not return all your papers. In other words, you will look less successful than you are.
If the author hasn't surname, enter in Given name field "*" and in the Family name field the name.
E.g. Prakasan, E. R. and Anil Kumar, * and Anil Sagar, * and Lalit Mohan, * and Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Kalyane, V. L. and Vijai Kumar, * (2003) Analytical study of contents of LANL physics and cross-listed e-print archives, 1994-2002.
The responsibilities as translator or people who collaborate with the author in degree thesis as supervisors will be present in the abstract field. See: Editors Frequently Asked Questions.
- Chapter
Include the number of the chapter, and only the number!
E.g.: 21 and not chapter 21
- Commentary on
If your document is a commentary on a item that is not in this archive, enter the full reference of the item. You can use the ISBD, International Sta ndard Bibliographic Description. if you like
- Conference
Be careful to enter the full and correct name of the conference.
E.g. Libraries in Digital Age (LIDA).
- Conference date
When the conference took place.
E.g. 2003-01-14.
- Conference location
Where the conference took place. You always have to specify the country in English using ( ).
E.g. Dubrovnik (Croatia).
- Country
In the countries categories stage, select the country from the list. Select more than one choice when the document has different authors from different countries.
- Department
Translate the department to English.
E.g.: Department of Information Science.
- Editor names
The names of the people who prepare for publication of the document(s) of one or more authors.
- Institution
Translate the institution to English.
E.g.: University of Barcelona (Spain).
- Keywords
Be careful to enter specific keywords relevant to the document, and don't be too general. If the document is not in English, you have to include keywords in both languages, e.g.:
Evaluación sensorial, bibliometría, infometría, sensory evaluation, bibliometrics, informetrics.
- Language
In the languages categories stage, select the language from the list. Select more than one choice when the document has the text in more than one language or the same document is available in multiple files (each in a different language).
- Publication: book
The full title of the publication your document appeared in. If possible, cut and paste the title of the book directly from its contents. There may be some problematic issues regarding the formatting.
Transcribe the name preserving the original wording, order and spelling. Either only capitalize proper nouns or: Capitalize titles. The latter is to ensure conformance of existing records. Punctuation need not reflect the usage of the original. Subtitles should be separated from the title by (space) colon (space), e.g.:
Libraries and information studies in retrospect and prospect : essays in honour of Prof. D.R. Kalia
And not
Libraries and information studies in retrospect and prospect: essays in honour of Prof. D.R. Kalia
- Publication: name of the journal
The full title of the publication your document appeared in. If possible, cut and paste the name of the journal directly from its contents. There may be some problematic issues regarding the formatting.
Transcribe the name preserving the original wording, order and spelling. Either only capitalize proper nouns or: Capitalize titles. The latter is to ensure conformance of existing records. Punctuation need not reflect the usage of the original. Subtitles should be separated from the title by (space) colon (space), e.g.:
Program : electronic library and information systems
And not
Program: electronic library and information systems
- Pages
The drawback with them is that they are not known until well after the document has been accepted for publication and hence a long time after the document has been deposited. Please make sure that you return to the record and add this information when it becomes available.
Please insert only the numbers of pages and not 'p.' or 'pp.'
- Public domain
If the document you are depositing is not your own but rather an old document that is now in the public domain. This will prevent your own name and address appearing with the document as the address for correspondence.
- Publication status
This one piece of information marks the difference between a document that has successfully been through the peer-review process and those that have not (or not yet).
- Publisher
An entity responsible for making the document available. In places and times when the functions of publishing, etc., and physical manufacture are combined, the names of the persons or bodies responsible for those functions are given as one statement. e.g.:
Ed. Est-Ouest internationales
Círculo de Lectores
- Refereed
Indicates whether this version of the document has been refereed or has not been refereed.
- References
If possible, cut and paste the reference list of the document directly from its contents (Be careful with PDF! You should check that the lines are in the correct position). It will be used to link your document to those it cites, and to those that cite it. Be careful with the numbering of bibliographic references, they have to be deleted. Please give URLs in your citations, if possible. E.g.:
Nicholson, D. (2003), "Subject-based interoperability: issues from the High-Level Thesaurus (HILT) Project", International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 14-16.
Nicholson, D. (2003), Scottish Distributed Information Infrastructure Research: Scottish Cultural Portal Pilot and Public Libraries Integration Initiatives, Centre for Digital Library Research, Glasgow, available at: http://speir.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/documents/CPandPLinfraRes.pdf
And not
Lei A. (1996)Writing Sample Analyzer
Vidyarthi A (2003)LibSoft Release 3.08
Vedi nota 1.
[5] Direttore della Biblioteca del CERN di Ginevra.
- Series
The series or sub-series statement contains the main elements identifying a series or sub-series.
- Subjects
The archive is using the JITA Classification. In the subject categories stage, select the subject or subjects from the list that best represent the content of your document. Please try to be as accurate and as specific as possible.
- Thesis Type
A PhD thesis or BA thesis.
- Title
If possible, cut and paste the title of the document directly from its contents. There may be some problematic issues regarding the formatting. It is important to realise that the metadata is a database record - its purpose is searching, not printing.
Transcribe the title preserving the original wording, order and spelling. Either only capitalize proper nouns or: Capitalize titles. The latter is to ensure conformance of existing records. Punctuation need not reflect the usage of the original. Subtitles should be separated from the title by (space) colon (space), e.g.:
Bibliographics for the 983 eprints in the live archives of E-LIS : trends and status report up to 7th July 2004, based on author-self-archiving metadata.
The resource is in more than one language
We have 4 different situations for this:
- The same document available in multiple files (each in a different language, with the title in a diffe ent language) published in the same journal/book/etc.: we will use the Parallel title, preceding punctuation: Space, equal sign, space ( = ) in Title field.
- A unique file that has the text in more than one language (e.g. a paragraph in English and another different one in French) published in the same journal/book/etc.: at the moment E-LIS doesn't allow a multiple language selection. In these situations, there will be the title in only one language (the title given on the document).
- A unique file to be uploaded that contains the same text in more than one language (e.g. a first part in English and then the same text in French) : again E-LIS doesn't allow a multiple language selection for one file. In these situations, we will use the concept of Parallel title, preceding punctuation: Space, equal sign, space ( = ) in Title field.
- The same document available in multiple files (each in a different language, with the title in a different language) published in different journals/books/etc.:different records will be created for each file. The IDs should be linked using 'Later version of'.
- Volume and number (conference)
Usually the conferences proceedings don't have volume and number, but these two numbers could be significant in distinguishing citations of similar sounding documents. The drawback with them is that they are not known until well after the conference paper (or entire proceedings) has been accepted for publication and hence a long time after the document has been deposited. Please make sure that you return to the record and add this information when it becomes available.
- Volume and number (journal)
These two numbers are significant in distinguishing citations of similar sounding documents. The drawback with them is that they are not known until well after the document has been accepted for publication in a journal and hence a long time after the document has been deposited. Please make sure that you return to the record and add this information when it becomes available.
- Year
Year is one of the most important fields, and is significant in distinguishing citations of similar sounding papers.
Preservation of documents
The E-LIS policy for preservation of documents is:
- All materials posted in the E-LIS will be retrievable but E-LIS strongly recommends authors to use PDF and HTML.
- Supported means that the E-LIS will make usable in the future, using whatever combination of techniques (such as migration, emulation, etc.) is appropriate given the context of need. Not all proprietary formats can be supported. These files will still be preserved. It is likely that for extremely popular but proprietary formats (such as Microsoft .doc, .xls and .ppt), E-LIS will be able to help make files in those formats more useful in the future.
E-LIS will fully support and preserve the following formats using either format migration or emulation techniques:
(supported: we fully support the format; known: we can recognize the format, but cannot gu rantee full support)
| Description | Extensions | Level |
| Adobe PDF | Supported | |
| HTML | html, htm | Supported |
| Microsoft Word | doc | known |
| Microsoft Powerpoint | ppt | known |
| Microsoft Excel | xls | known |
| Text | txt | Supported |
