In September 2022, all content in eScholarship@UMassChan moved to a new web platform. Read on to find answers to some frequently asked questions about the migration. This FAQ is no longer being updated but will remain available here for historic purposes.
What happened?
Launched in 2006, the eScholarship@UMassChan repository (formerly eScholarship@UMMS) has been an important digital platform at UMass Chan Medical School, hosting faculty research, student research, and unique original publications and scholarship. The Lamar Soutter Library at UMass Chan migrated all content in eScholarship@UMassChan to new websites in September 2022.
Most content – primarily faculty and staff publications, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, and departmental collections – has moved to a new repository platform. Open access journals and ebook chapters published and hosted in eScholarship were moved to a new publishing platform.
Why did we make this change?
The new websites offer substantial benefits, including:
- Enhanced searching
- Easy submission for authors
- Improved and easy to follow workflow
- Ability to export citations
- Clearer navigation
- Open source platforms that integrate with existing open source scholarly infrastructure and tools
- Increases in internal efficiency, flexibility and security, including Single Sign-On (SSO) login
Will the old links still work?
Yes, most links from the previous repository will still work. The new platforms have new URLs; however, we set up URL redirects from the escholarship.umassmed.edu website from: the landing pages for items; collection pages; and the top level of the repository. DOIs (digital object identifiers) also redirect to the new platforms.
As part of the migration, some existing collections in the repository were merged. Requests for content in these collections are redirected to the appropriate collection in the new platform.
Departmental and other stakeholders (those known to Library staff) were notified in advance of the migration so that school website links could be updated.
Will my previous account still work?
You will need to register for a new account to submit materials into the new repository. For both new platforms, UMass Chan users will use Single Sign On to authenticate and sign in with their umassmed.edu email address and password. Users without a umassmed.edu email address will not be able to submit materials to the new repository.
Note that no account or sign is required to search or download from most collections in eScholarship@UMassChan, in accordance with our goal to disseminate and showcase UMass Chan scholarship to a global audience.
How will this migration affect the download statistics of my works? What about the author dashboard?
Cumulative download counts for each item were migrated to the new platforms, both of which collect and display usage statistics. Geographic and institutional usage information could not be migrated. The new platforms do not currently support author dashboards, but the Library is working with the vendors to provide automated monthly reports to authors in the future.
Will the Library continue to collect UMass Chan scholarship?
The Library remains committed to archiving and disseminating the scholarship of faculty, students, and staff of UMass Chan. As in the previous service model, you can submit works directly to the repository or work with the Library to identify and collect new publications.
Will the Library continue to host open access journal and ebook publishing?
The Library remains committed to publishing and will continue to support our current open access, peer-reviewed journals and ebook chapters on the new platform.
When will we stop using the previous platform?
The previous website is no longer available. The links were redirected to the new websites in mid-September 2022.
Where can I get help if I have questions?
If you have questions, email the Library at escholarship@umassmed.edu or use our Ask a Librarian form.