The IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Scholarship managed a somewhat sleepy social media account on Twitter from 2014 to November 2022. We used the account to share events, updates, and celebrations related to the work that we do for the IUPUI campus and the Indianapolis community.
A lot has changed since 2014–the year that the Center was established. We’ve seen excellent people come and go; we’ve changed leadership twice; and the focus of our work has evolved somewhat too. We’re more laser focused on supporting open research and less invested in digitizing cultural materials. (The library continues to offer digitization services, but under a different banner.) We’ve seen a few changes and more are to come, but one thing has been a constant–we value open source, community-managed software. For nearly two decades, IUPUI University Library has used open source software like DSpace, OJS, and Drupal to run key services for the campus. Our Center has been deeply involved in promoting and keeping sites that use open source software alive even when vended, proprietary alternatives have been proposed. We know the value of owning your own data and customizing software to suit your own needs.
We also know that it requires time and labor from a dedicated community. That’s why we’ve decided to open an account with the Humanities Commons instance of Mastodon. Although the work we do for the campus transcends the disciplines, the character of our work reflects the values and the goals of Humanities Commons. On a daily basis, you can find us advocating for “academy-owned and governed project[s], designed to serve the needs of scholars, writers, researchers, and students as they engage in teaching and research projects that benefit the larger community.” That’s our sauce, jam, and mustard.
We hope that you’re using Mastodon or something on the fediverse too. If you are, please consider following us @DigitalScholarshipIUI@hcommons.social. We’ll be posting more regularly now that we’ve found a home that suits us. Expect to hear about our work to support open access, open research, open education, ORCID, and other open knowledge initiatives in Indianapolis, Indiana. Unless otherwise noted all posts will be by Heather Coates, Olivia MacIsaac, Jere Odell, and Ted Polley.
More on Mastodon
This work is licensed by IUPUI University Library under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (J.O., April 13, 2023)