cIRcle launched in 2007 as the University’s institutional repository. In short, cIRcle is responsible for collecting the research output of a Tier One university – everything from research papers, theses and projects to videos, podcasts, conference papers and more.
But what does that mean for your research?
For starters, it means that anything in cIRcle is freely accessible on the web. Material is available to the public, so anyone can access it – even without a library card. While material is available to anyone, currently only UBC faculty, staff and students can submit their work into cIRcle. Although it is not possible for UBC alumni to submit their work, alumni already benefit from the program in numerous ways.
cIRcle’s collection of more than 43,000 items is a huge bonus to researchers. The content is organized into communities that represent UBC departments, labs, research centres and schools. Some of the larger communities include the Department of Mining Engineering and the Faculty of Forestry, and feature conference papers, dissertations and projects. “We are setting a new standard for open source materials of a very important conference series,” says Dirk van Zyl, professor at UBC’s Department of Mining Engineering. Indeed, the Tailings and Mine Waste 2011 collection in cIRcle has thousands of views and hundreds of downloads.
Providing open access to UBC’s research output makes the sharing of information more cost effective. An added bonus is that anyone at UBC can benefit from making their material openly accessible in cIRcle and hence easily findable via Google, Google Scholar and other web search engines.
“The world-wide recognition and awareness of me and UBC increases each time a person finds their way to cIRcle,” says Dwayne Tannant, a Professor at UBC’s School of Engineering.
It isn’t just faculty members contributing to cIRcle. The Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference (MURC) features exemplary research at the undergraduate level. Graduate students must submit their dissertations, of course, but they are encouraged to submit project work and papers as well.
In 2007, the Library began work on digitizing theses and dissertations published from 1919 to 2007. This effort included more than 32,000 theses and took several years to complete. As a result of this digitization, the work of UBC alumni is now searchable across the globe. Theses since 2008 are also available in cIRcle.
Some of the more notable collections in cIRcle include the 2010 Olympics materials, and interviews with the Japanese Canadian students of 1942.
We invite you to begin exploring cIRcle and find out more about what it can do for you.