Document Reference Contributions

In most cases, organizations or individuals can contribute bibliographic references at no cost to them. "Contributions" are when documents in paper or PDF format are loaned to CEESI or PRCI for the purpose of adding the references to the library; documents are not made available for download unless consent of the publishing organization is given, regardless of the source of the contribution. For example, if an individual working for ISHM loans several years of FLOMEKO proceedings for addition to the library, only the bibliographic references will be added to the library, in the absence of FLOMEKO comments and approvals.

Special terms and conditions may be negotiated between donors and CEESI or PRCI on a case-by-case basis. Acknowledgement of contributions may be posted on the Library website if requested by the donor. Donors of significant bodies of work can inquire about special access portals, website links, document-specific credits, or reports. Potential contributors should refer to the Appendix A (Donor Checklist) for a list of the standard options available for contributing document references.

A sampling of the options donors can specify when sending documents to CEESI to have references to the library include:

• Contributors can have CEESI scan and/or data enter documents in order to catalog the references, but then specify when the references should be added to the library (typically references are added as soon as they are processed, but individual donors can also specify to not release references until after their retirement).
• Unless specified by CEESI or PRCI, there is no cost to the contributing individual or organization to scan and/or data enter document references.
• If the organization contributing the documents also published them, they can specify if the actual PDF documents can be downloaded by the general public. In addition, the organization can specify if the PDF documents can only be downloadable by PRCI members.
• A notation of credit can be attached to document references indicating the name of the individual or organization that contributed the references via PRIME.
• Donors can receive a copy of the bibliographic references in spreadsheet format and/or PDF copies of the documents being contributed.

Benefits to Organizations from Contributions

Regardless of the individual or organization that contributes document references, the organization that published the documents receives a variety of free and substantial benefits including:

• Every document where the publishing organization is known has a link to that organization�s website. This means that organizations that allow their document references to be included in the library have hundreds or even thousands of links to their website at no cost.
• At any time, if an organization would like to have a specific legal disclaimer added to the Disclaimers web page they simply need to contact the CEESI webmaster or PRCI project manager.
• Donors of hundreds or more document references can have their organization�s name, website link, logo, and brief description of their organization added at no cost by contacting the CEESI webmaster or PRCI project manager.
• Individuals who contribute document references to the library have the option of specifying either their name or their organization�s name, which will be listed under each document reference.
• Official organization representatives may request the bibliographic information for documents published by their organization in spreadsheet format at any time from the CEESI webmaster.

Document Reference Contribution Process

While the specific process for "contributing" document references varies slightly based on the specific agreement with the donor and CEESI/PRCI, it generally follows these steps:

1. Specific details of the contribution are finalized in writing (potential contributors should refer to the Appendix A (Donor Checklist) for a list of the standard options available for contributing document references).
2. Documents in the form of PDFs, event proceeding CDs, bound books, or loose papers are sent to CEESI's Colorado facility.
3. CEESI performs the needed scanning and/or data processing of the documents in order to load the bibliographic references into a database that runs the library.
4. Materials sent to CEESI can be returned to the donor, or CEESI will indefinitely store the documents at the Colorado facility.
5. Document references are added to the library by the CEESI library administrator.
6. Updates to the Major Contributors, Disclaimers, News and Proceedings web pages are made as needed per the agreement with the donor.

CEESI and PRCI are currently seeking contribution of document references from both organizations and individuals. Those interested in contributing should check the Proceedings page in order to see a listing of event proceedings by year that are currently part of the library. If a person or organization representative has proceedings from years not listed on the Proceedings page, they are encouraged to contact the CEESI webmaster or the PRCI project manager in order to add references for the missing years.

PRCI reserves the right to grant donors (either organizations or individuals) the same access that PRCI members have to the library. Special arrangements with donors will be made on a case-by-case basis and approved by the PRCI Measurement Technical Committee (MTC).


CEESI's Document Processing Capabilities

CEESI developed the capabilities described below to scan and data enter event proceedings from any organization.

• Custom built data entry software to minimize data entry and file naming errors
• Search engine software infrastructure to provide users with high quality search results; this functionality was greatly improved via PRCI funding
• Ability to scan proceeding books with several high speed scanners (if the bindings are cut off) or with page by page scanners (if the bindings can not be cut off�this is doable but extremely time consuming)
• Semi-automated software that can convert thousands of image-style PDF files to text-selectable PDFs files per day; this type of software greatly accelerates the process of converting proceedings from books to PDF for data entry purposes
• Employees who have scanned and data entered over 40,000 documents
• Database structures that store vast quantities of bibliographic references