Submitting an Item

A Simple Process to Contribute Works to Appalachian State University's Institutional Repository (IR), NC DOCKS.

Any faculty member interested in contributing works to ASU's IR, NC DOCKS, should contact Leah McManus at mcmanusld@appstate.edu or 828-262-6537       
To begin the process, send Leah a list of your works. The ASU Library will then verify which publishers allow self-archiving and may also be able to scan some of your works. But for some, you may need to send a copy to Leah (usually as an e-mail attachment). We aim to make the submission process as simple as possible.

Content Criteria for NC DOCKS

  • Each work must be the intellectual property of an ASU faculty member. (Exception - theses and dissertations will also be included in the IR.)
  • It must be complete and in final form.
  • It must be a scholarly, research, or educational work.
  • It must be made available for global access at no cost via the Web.
  • The author/creator of each work must grant to the ASU Library the non-exclusive right to preserve and distribute the work in perpetuity.
  • Contributions to NC DOCKS are entirely voluntary; should the author later wish to remove any contribution, the Library will comply with the request.

Faculty Benefits from Archiving Works in the ASU IR

  • Works are archived permanently, with a stable server and a URL that will never break.
  • Authors with works in NC DOCKS enjoy a larger community of readers.
  • Researchers worldwide have continuous and perpetual access to publications in NC DOCKS.
  • Although the ASU IR has its own searching interface, most researchers will use an Internet search engine, such as Google, to discover works archived in the IR.
  • Google is a primary discovery tool for a vast number of researchers.
  • Google “crawls” IRs for new material, provides full-text keyword access, and gives preferential treatment to works in IRs.
  • Studies show that, across all disciplines, open-access articles, such as those in an IR, have greater research impact than traditional publications—open-access articles are discovered and read by more scholars and cited more frequently.
  • For ASU, NC DOCKS is a great way of validating and showcasing the value of the university’s faculty to society outside the classroom (UNC Tomorrow, NC taxpayers, and more).