Digital Commons at Gardner-Webb Attracts Readers from All Over the World

Since Launching in 2015, the University’s Repository Logs Over 2 Million Document Downloads

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Launched in 2015 as a repository for graduate theses and dissertations and two institutional journals, it has grown to host nearly 10,000 works and has over 2 million document downloads.

Institutional repositories are vital for preserving records that are either at risk of physical deterioration or getting lost in the rapidly-changing internet landscape. “It has been interesting to observe the repository’s growth and the development of new collections over the last 10 years since the launch,” noted Dover Library’s Acquisitions & Collection Management Librarian Holly Mabry. “I hope that Digital Commons will continue to provide a way to preserve and showcase the research, creative and historical records at Gardner-Webb for many years to come.”

A Readership Map on the Digital Commons web page displays the titles and authors of the papers as they are being downloaded. On a recent day, readers in China, Brazil, Philippines, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., examined papers relating to political science, nursing, education and science. Some of them explored documents in various historical archives. In addition, the paper with the most downloads was “A Qualitative Study of the Impact of Experiences of Students with Parents as their Principal, Teacher, or Coach.”

As an institutional repository with unlimited storage space, Digital Commons serves as a permanent home for important University and community works and includes the ability to house text, image audio, and video files. Along with the original two journals—The Journal of Organizational and Educational Leadership (JOEL) from the GWU College of Education and Journal of Counseling and Psychology from the GWU School of Psychological Science and Counselor Education—Digital Commons has served as a launching pad for a variety of new ideas and programs.

The College of Education also publishes professional learning modules in its IMPROVE Professional Learning Module collection developed by its EDCI students. Student and faculty scholarship activities such as presentations and publications are provided in the repository as well.

As a service to the broader community, Gardner-Webb University Archives has digitized both university and Cleveland County materials. The library has received grants from the State Library of North Carolina’s LSTA program to purchase scanners and camera equipment to digitize and make available the county’s historical records. Learn more about these grants here. A partnership started with the Earl Scruggs Center digitizes records from the Cleveland County Museum, as well as area Baptist associations. Gardner-Webb publications such as the alumni magazine, news stories, and yearbooks are available, as well as the University’s film, audio and video collections.

While Digital Commons was initially focused on the journals and theses and dissertations, it has continued to serve as a platform for creative ideas, research and scholarship, digital archives, campus news and publications, and institutional records.

Interested in getting involved? Check out the Citizen Archivist Program, a project that involves transcribing handwritten documents intended for digitization.

Gardner-Webb University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Ignite your future at Gardner-Webb.edu.