What is Open AIR?
Open AIR is a new institutional repository developed to replace NC DOCKS (North Carolina Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship). This modernized digital archive will collect, preserve, and provide open access to the scholarly and creative outputs from faculty, staff, and students at Appalachian State University. It includes journal articles, dissertations, theses, datasets, and other research, scholarly, and creative materials.
Why is NC DOCKS being replaced by Open AIR?
Open AIR is a modern, user-friendly platform with more features and functionality than NC DOCKS. It will better support various types of research outputs, offer more detailed analytics, and allow for greater discoverability and citation of scholarly works.
What types of content will be included in Open AIR?
Open AIR will feature a wide range of research, scholarly and creative works, including:
- Journal articles
- Theses and dissertations
- Datasets
- White papers, working papers, and technical reports
- Artistic research outputs
What are the key features of Open AIR?
- Wide Range of File Formats: Supports various file types such as PDFs, images, datasets, and multimedia.
- Persistent Digital Identifiers: Uses DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) and ORCID iDs (Open Researcher and Contributor IDs) to ensure that research is discoverable, citable, and properly attributed.
- User-Friendly Platform: A modern and visually engaging interface that is easy to navigate.
- Comprehensive Analytics: Provides detailed usage data and analytics to track the visibility and impact of research.
When will Open AIR be available?
- NC DOCKS Content Migration: Will begin in phases in late April 2025
- Soft Launch: April 2025 – the platform will begin ingesting completed theses and dissertations from the Honors College and Graduate School, and Digital Scholarship and Initiatives will solicit content from the most frequent users of NC DOCKS.
- Go Live Date: August 15, 2025
How will content from NC DOCKS be transferred to Open AIR?
Beginning in late April 2025, the content from NC DOCKS will be migrated to Open AIR to ensure continuity and maintain access to previously archived works. This work will be completed in phases to accommodate metadata remediation and enrichment required by the new repository platform. Please note that, at present (April 2025), NC DOCKS content can still be accessed at https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/.
Will Open AIR be accessible to everyone?
Yes! Open AIR is designed to provide open access to scholarly and creative works. This means that anyone with internet access will be able to explore and download the research materials stored in the repository.\
How will Open AIR benefit the Appalachian State community?
Open AIR will increase the visibility and accessibility of research produced at Appalachian State University, fostering a culture of open scholarship. Researchers can track the reach and influence of their work, and the university community will benefit from easier access to a variety of scholarly outputs.
What kinds of analytics are available in Open AIR?
Open AIR provides detailed analytics, including data on how often works are viewed, downloaded, and cited. This allows researchers to better understand the impact and reach of their work.
How can I contribute content to Open AIR?
Once Open AIR goes live, faculty, staff, and students will be able to submit their scholarly works directly through the platform. Specific submission guidelines and instructions will be made available prior to the go-live date. Please visit this Open AIR Library Guide for more information.
Will I need to make my work available under an open access license?
While Open AIR aims to promote open access, contributors will have the option to choose the access and licensing preferences for their content. We encourage open access where possible to enhance the visibility and impact of your work.
Will AI be able to access Open AIR content?
Open AIR is an open-access institutional repository. As a result, work submitted to OpenAIR, with some exceptions, will be available to the public. At this time, it is possible that AI bots may access and scrape work published and made accessible on Open AIR. OpenAIR faculty and staff and figshare are working collaboratively to determine technical solutions, if any. For this reason, OpenAIR users should not submit any confidential or sensitive information, personally identifiable information (PII), and work with proprietary rights into the repository. Please revisit the FAQs section for updates on progress towards technical, policy, and legal measures taken to protect repository content from AI use.
How can I stay updated on Open AIR’s progress?
You can learn more about Open AIR by visiting this Library Guide, which provides policies and guidance on how to share content on Open AIR. You can also stay updated by visiting the Digital Scholarship and Initiatives' Open Access webpage, subscribing to email newsletters, including Open Access in Practice, or following announcements from Appalachian State University Libraries.
Who can I contact if I have questions or need assistance?
For general questions or assistance with Open AIR, please contact Natalie Foreman at foremannr@appstate.edu. For questions relating to Open AIR privacy policies, copyright, permissions, rights statements, licensing, or intellectual property, please email Agnes Gambill at gambillab@appstate.edu. For questions relating to Open AIR metadata, DOIs, ORCID iDs, digital repository standards and best practices, or digital curation/preservation of scholarly outputs, please email Ashlea Green at greenam7@appstate.edu.
Can I input content that I find on OpenAIR into AI platforms?
No, unless you have permission from the copyright holder. Content that is hosted on OpenAIR may be protected by intellectual property rights, contract rights, licensing rights, publishing agreements, and other legal agreements that may not be readily apparent to the public and OpenAIR users. Inputting content into AI platforms also risks the loss of attribution and citation for authors, which is not only detrimental to the integrity of the scholarly record, but also unfair to authors who rely on attribution credit for promotion and tenure, and may result in AI platforms plagiarizing another's work. You should always contact the copyright holder before inputting any OpenAIR content into AI platforms.
What does "AI-assisted" content mean?
While this definition is still evolving, in the scholarly publishing context, "AI-assisted" means any work where the author uses AI to help with the brainstorming process with identifying research questions and improving the writing of the work. AI-assisted does not mean using AI to make significant revisions to your work, using AI to write large segments of your work, and using AI to develop new analysis and arguments.