This week, the UNH Scholars Repository recorded its 10-millionth download, marking an incredible achievement in scholarly communication. The more than 90,000 works available through the repository represent the diversity and vibrancy of UNH scholarship, from undergraduate research to the products of federally funded grants. Contributors are guided by Scholarly Communication Librarian Eleta Exline and Institutional Repository Coordinator Nikki Cogdill through questions about intellectual property, academic publishing and access. “We’re incredibly proud of the work the library does to support UNH research and extend its reach to a wider audience,” says Exline.
Founded in 2012 and housed in the UNH Library, the Scholars Repository collects scholarly and creative works by UNH students, faculty, staff, institutes and programs, providing a central location for archiving this scholarship for long-term access. Research done by UNH Cooperative Extension, the Survey Center and the Carsey School of Public Policy are among the repository’s larger collections, as is the collection of Undergraduate Honors Theses. Readers can search the repository by collection and by discipline, exploring exciting work done in every corner of the academy.
The repository also hosts the UNH Library’s Digital Collections. “Digital Collections featuring University Archives materials are among the important resources offered by the Scholars Repository,” says University Archivist Kai Uchida. “The digitized editions of The New Hampshire student newspaper are a vital primary source that is constantly used in teaching, outreach and research on campus history.” Digital Collections also includes the New Hampshire City and Town Annual Reports; materials from historical figures, including Judge Ivorey Cobb, photographer Lotte Jacobi, and landscape architect Bremer W. Pond; and contemporary archives such as Different Roots, Common Dreams: New Hampshire’s Cultural Diversity.
The repository promotes the rights of authors to control their intellectual property and furthers the concept of Open Access to research. Open Access means content that is free to read online, download and share. The library encourages students, faculty and staff to contribute to the collaborative goals of education by openly sharing their research and scholarship with the global community. “The Scholars Repository makes important UNH research openly available to scholars around the world, regardless of their ability to pay,” says Kimberly Sweetman, Interim Library Dean. “We invite all UNH researchers to deposit their intellectual output with us. As evidenced by the 10 million downloads, items in our repository get a lot of exposure.”
The repository also promotes the work done at UNH to researchers and readers around the world. Scholarship in the repository is indexed by search services such as Google, making it accessible to a wide audience. “The Scholars Repository has been an invaluable platform for sharing my genealogy research as open scholarship,” says Associate Professor Kathrine Aydelott. “By removing barriers like paywalls, it allows anyone to access and engage with the work—whether they’re academics or just curious family historians. Knowing my research can reach people simply through a Google search makes the effort feel truly impactful and connected to a broader community.”
That community spans the globe. Visitors to the repository can view a world map showing real-time readership: in a single hour last week, work housed in the repository was downloaded by readers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Oman, South Africa, Bolivia and Brazil, among numerous other countries. The repository serves as a reminder of the active and enlivening connection between the dynamic work done here in Durham and the wider world of scholarship to which that work contributes—a contribution that has been made, now, more than 10 million times.
Here's to the next 10 million.
UNH students, faculty and staff interested in adding their work to the Scholars Repository can learn more, follow repository submission guidelines or contact the library for assistance.
