WVU Libraries

If information is today’s currency, wvuScholar is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The recently launched research repository, a joint effort by the West Virginia University Libraries, the Office of Information Technology, and the Office of Academic Affairs and Research, brings together scholarly research from students and faculty and makes them accessible through one search engine.

“WvuScholar is a much better interface than we had before,” said John Hagen, Program Coordinator for the Institutional Repository. “It’s easier to search. You can search full-text, not just keywords.”

Migration of the old WVU eIDR system to the new Ex Libris “DigiTool” repository (IR) system began last fall. The collections include Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), Electronic undergraduate Honors Theses (EHTs) and the Electronic Scholarly Research Archives (ESRA), a faculty research portal.

Student-driven research has been an important part of the open access initiative. WVU became a pioneer in the field in 1998 when it required electronic submission of all master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. Undergraduate Honors College theses are now a graduation requirement as well.

The enhanced access to research posted online translates into many more eyes reading one’s work than would otherwise happen. An ETD is read thousands of times more than their printed counterparts. Over the past decade, the Libraries have recorded more than 10 million ETD downloads.

“The ETD initiative is a way for WVU to participate in discovering new methods of scholarly communication – how our faculty and student research is made available in today’s changing research environment,” said Frances O’Brien, Dean of the WVU Libraries. “Active communication among scholars and the public is an important part of our mission as a land grant university.”

To search the wvuScholar collections, go to http://wvuscholar.wvu.edu:8881