WKU and the University of Kentucky are pleased to announce the launch of Kentucky Research Commons, a new digital portal that presents and provides access to the breadth and depth of research being conducted in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The portal features a real-time readership map that visualizes when and where content is being downloaded. The site illuminates the global reach and significance of the outstanding research from Kentucky institutions.
“It is exhilarating to see the scholarly endeavors in the Commonwealth hold broad appeal around the world. This new portal certainly helps researchers and the academic communities develop a clear picture of the reach and impact of their work,” said Adrian Ho, Director of Digital Scholarship at University of Kentucky Libraries.
The Kentucky Research Commons hosts a wealth of valuable scholarly materials, ranging from faculty publications, to online peer-reviewed journals, to conferences and events, to electronic theses and dissertations, to special archival collections. Users can browse content by institution, discipline, or author. They can also type in search terms for easy discovery.
Hosted by bepress on its Digital Commons platform, the site aggregates contents from the institutional repositories of a growing number of Kentucky institutions, including Asbury Theological Seminary, Bellarmine University, Eastern Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and WKU. Institutional repositories are playing an increasingly significant role in the way universities share, manage and preserve their scholarly outputs.
Connie Foster, Dean of Libraries at WKU, believes there is strength in numbers, stating, “The Kentucky Research Commons brings another dimension to open access, collaboration, and the intellectual output of universities in the Commonwealth through a shared research portal. Faculty can showcase their research; students can explore research and creative efforts across Kentucky; legislators, funding bodies, and all citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond can visualize the impact of educational outcomes in one place. The Readership Map highlights in real time the use of the portal and dramatically visualizes international reach. While each institution shown in this portal realizes individual growth and impact, the collective strength cannot go unnoticed in this endeavor. The continued commitment by bepress to create new and enhanced ways to support its user community is unparalleled.”
- For more about Kentucky Research Commons, visit kentucky.researchcommons.us.
- For more about UKnowledge, visit http://uknowledge.uky.edu/
- For more about TopSCHOLAR, visit http://digitalcommons.wku.edu
Contact: Adrian Ho, adrian.ho@uky.edu; or Connie Foster, connie.foster@wku.edu
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