ISU Digital Repository's Software Upgrade Offers Enhancements and New Features
A recent software upgrade to the library’s instance of DSpace, the most widely used open-source repository platform worldwide, brings significant improvements to the ISU Digital Repository.
Since 2012, the Digital Repository (or “DR”) has provided public access to research and scholarship by Iowa State faculty, staff, and students. Anyone in the world can use the DR to download and read peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, cutting-edge findings shared in pre-prints and working papers, and the culmination of multi-year research projects through graduate students’ dissertations and theses. As one of the library’s core open initiatives, the DR is a commitment to ISU’s land-grant mission to make the benefits of higher education available to all, and we hope the improvements from this latest upgrade reinforce that commitment.
New Home Page
The DR home page now features buttons to the DR’s most popular collections, giving users faster and easier access to browse faculty publications, profiles for ISU authors and departments, and student research. The navigation menu has a clearer structure and has information on DR policies, how to submit your work, and search tips.
Enhanced Author Profiles
Download and view counts now appear prominently on pages for publications, authors, and departments. This new display helps users quickly see the impact of making ISU research available for anyone to read.
Improved Accessibility
In addition, the DR now complies with more accessibility standards. The site itself scored 95% using the checker SiteImprove, and users now have a clear option to request a more accessible version of files they download from the DR.
Quick Access Search Options
Library staff are continuing to improve search and browse features based on feedback we’ve received from users. For example, we are adding quick access buttons to DR department pages to help searchers find certain types of publications, such as all dissertations by Chemistry graduate students or working papers by Economics faculty.
Work With Us
While DSpace is the underlying software for the DR, the true engine behind the Digital Repository is the library staff who collect publications from ISU authors and add them to the DR. Our team checks publisher copyright policies to make sure we can legally add publications, saving authors time and ensuring research by Iowa Staters is available to the widest possible audience, reliably and for the long-term.
We encourage current faculty, staff, and students to contact our team to learn more about increasing your research impact through the ISU Digital Repository!