Get to know CEDAR, Western's institutional respository

Did you know October 24-30 is Open Access Week? Western Libraries is celebrating Open Access all through the month of October by sharing interesting facts about Western CEDAR, WWU’s institutional repository.

Part of a global movement promoting access to scholarship and creative works, Western CEDAR (an acronym for Contributing to Education through Digital Access to Research) officially launched in the fall of 2014,  as a service of Western Libraries and in partnership with Western's Graduate School, Office of the Provost, and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

CEDAR advances Western Washington University’s commitment to enriching academic inquiry and strengthening communities by sharing the expertise and creativity of its students, faculty, and staff. CEDAR serves as a platform to disseminate and promote the research, scholarship, and creative works of Western faculty, students, staff, departments, centers, units, institutes, and programs. By showcasing scholarly and creative works, CEDAR facilitates their global discovery and promotes open access and sustainable scholarly communication.

CEDAR "Did You Know" facts:

• Curious about WWU’s early history? Check out Western at 75 in Western CEDAR. http://cedar.wwu.edu/cedarbooks/7/
• Paul Ford, WWU emeritus faculty and former administrator, writes about trying to outwit rainbow trout in A Wenatchee Fly Fisher’s Notebook. Find his collections of essays in Western CEDAR. http://cedar.wwu.edu/ford_fishing/
• Western librarians collaborated on an open education textbook. Cost to students is zero! Check it out in Western CEDAR. http://cedar.wwu.edu/research_process/
• When the Western librarians wrote an open access textbook for a library class they sent links to list serves and colleagues. In the first week of publication in Western CEDAR the chapters were downloaded 983 times. http://cedar.wwu.edu/research_process/
• Did you know an open access version of The Secret History of the Mongols by Igor de Rachewiltz was published in Western CEDAR? The author posted the link on the book’s Wikipedia page and it is the most download book in CEDAR. http://cedar.wwu.edu/cedarbooks/4/
• Graduate students, did you know your Master Theses are the most highly used collection in Western CEDAR? http://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/
• Over 1,100 items were added to CEDAR last year. What’s your favorite? Could it be an issue of Klipsun Magazine from April, 1979? It’s one of the most popular issues.  http://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine/
• Check out, in Western CEDAR, how Klipsun Magazine has changed over time.
  • First issue in 1967: http://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine/1/
  • Recent issue in 2016: http://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine/260/
• Undergraduates, did you know you can win money for writing an outstanding research paper? Check out the Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award page in Western CEDAR. http://cedar.wwu.edu/library_researchaward/
• Did you write your WWU Graduate Thesis before they were published digitally? If you are interested in adding your thesis to the WWU Masters Thesis Collection in Western CEDAR contact westerncedar@wwu.edu. Take a look at the current collection http://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/index.html