MD-SOAR (mdsoar.org) is a shared digital repository platform for eleven colleges and universities in Maryland. It is currently funded by the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) Library Consortium (usmai.org) and other participating partner institutions. MD-SOAR is jointly governed by all participating libraries, who have agreed to share policies and practices that are necessary and appropriate for the shared platform.
Within this broad framework, each library provides customized repository services and collections that meet local institutional needs. Records in MD-SOAR span a wide range of material types including: electronic theses & dissertations; student capstone projects; pre-print publications (journal articles, book chapters); conference presentations (papers, posters, &c.); institutional grey literature; digitized special collections and archival holdings.
MD-SOAR receives technical support from the DST division of UMD Libraries in the form of hosting, systems administration and developer support, allowing for partner participation without the technical and infrastructural considerations usually required for institutional repository deployment. The platform’s initial pilot period ended in 2017 and is currently undergoing assessment for platform renewal (end of FY2020).
Statistics
- Total number of records: ~14,000*
- Total visitors to mdsoar.org: 122,567*
- Page views (08/2016-01/2020): 465,686*
- File downloads (08/2016-01/2020): 1,147,000**
*Calculated using Google Analytics logs
**Calculated using MDSOAR Solr statistics logs