Project Archiving Policy

Archiving project outcomes is a critical learning objective for students in the MGEM program. Students are expected to undertake several archiving initiatives that are guided through their end-of-program coursework. We work closely with UBC Librarians to ensure that student achievements are discoverable in research databases. For students, this learning process includes creating metadata, writing a final report, and publishing a web map.

Project outcomes will be archived on this website (MGEM Project Library) and with the MGEM Dataverse through the UBC Library. The MGEM Project Library provides user-friendly access to all projects and enables public exploration of project analysis through web maps. The MGEM Dataverse is a data repository that is made possible through Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository. Each project archived with the MGEM Dataverse will receive a unique DOI (digital object identifier) and a permanent URL to reference it.

Decisions

Have a conversation about the scope of archiving

Mentors should discuss directly with their students the scope of archiving. There is no expectation that “raw” data will be archived with the MGEM Dataverse. Any concerns about archiving a derived dataset should first be discussed with the student and then communicated using the reporting tool on the Mentor Portal.

Consider which license to archive with

Students at UBC own the copyright to any materials or works that they create during their coursework. This includes any reports, maps, figures, and data, unless a data-sharing agreement is in place. We encourage students to publish and archive their project outcomes using a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license with Dataverse because this ensures the widest possible use and discovery of the project outcomes. This license may not always be possible when working with some data sources. In these cases, mentors should discuss directly with their students what specific terms, conditions, and/or restrictions that need to be added.

Think about how you want to be represented

Mentors are responsible for communicating to their students how they wish to be represented in the final report, final presentation, metadata, and other descriptive text about the project. Some questions to ask yourself:

• Do you want to be personally named in the final report, presentation, etc?
• Do you have a preferred title to use? (e.g., Dr, Prof, PhD, Scientist, Biologist, etc)
• What are your pronouns?
• Would you like your organization to be featured on this website or the final report?