ScholarWorks downloads reach new record

Senior projects created by Frederik Meijer Honors College students have been downloaded more than 76,000 times through the ScholarWorks portal over the last year, setting a new download record. 

Matt Ruen, scholarly communications outreach coordinator for University Libraries, said the recent numbers are staggering. In 2015, senior projects were downloaded 48,709 times. In 2016, there have been 69,000 downloads so far.

“It makes us incredibly proud,” Ruen said. “These numbers can show students that the work they do has a direct impact on people throughout the world.”

ScholarWorks, created in 2008, enables Grand Valley students, faculty and staff to share their work online. Students can choose to share their work within the Grand Valley community, or they can allow that work to be accessible to anyone in the world.

Since 2008, people in 201 countries and territories have downloaded an honors senior project from ScholarWorks. The U.S. leads downloads with 75,752. Projects have been downloaded more than 5,000 times in the United Kingdom, and more than 3,000 times in Canada.

“At its core, ScholarWorks exists to share Grand Valley’s work with the world,” Ruen said. “By giving students a way to share their work, we are empowering their success.”

Jeff Chamberlain, director of the Meijer Honors College, said ScholarWorks is enabling honors students to share relevant research much more widely.

“Traditionally, you’d write a thesis, get it bound, and it would sit on a shelf gathering dust,” Chamberlain said. “With ScholarWorks, the projects are not static anymore.”

Honors senior projects are diverse: some students conduct original research, and they are encouraged to create something they are passionate about. They are given a choice to opt in to ScholarWorks, and they can manage who can access their project. 

Google and Google Scholar are the main ways readers reach ScholarWorks, Ruen said. While he encourages most students to share their work with anyone in the world, he said there are benefits to only sharing it within the Grand Valley community. 

For Chamberlain, the biggest benefit is giving students a way to share their work with anyone.

“It’s just phenomenal that we can help students publish their work for free,” Chamberlain said. “Now, I’m waiting for a download to pop up in Antarctica.”

Readership information for Honors Senior Projects in ScholarWorks can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ScholarWorksHonors.