About ThinkIR

What is ThinkIR?

ThinkIR is an open-access digital repository that provides worldwide access to the scholarship of the University of Louisville community. Through ThinkIR, faculty and graduates can highlight their scholarship, accomplishments, and successes as researchers for a global audience, increasing their visibility and making new connections.

As a core commitment of University Libraries, ThinkIR also preserves that scholarship for future researchers. ThinkIR currently includes student research, faculty publications, and freestanding open access journals produced at or hosted by the University of Louisville.

Benefits of Participating in ThinkIR

  • Increasing access to your scholarship at home and abroad by concentrated online indexing.
  • Facilitating connections with other scholars who share your research and scholarly interests.
  • Providing a worldwide forum that highlights your scholarship.

    • How Can Students and Alumni Participate in ThinkIR?

    Graduate theses, dissertations, and capstones and undergraduate honors theses are deposited by students in accordance with their respective program requirements. We also welcome papers and/or posters that serve as the scholarly output of an undergraduate research event. Please see the ThinkIR Collection Policy for further details.

    How Can Faculty and Staff Participate in ThinkIR?

    The ThinkIR Collection Policy describes policies surrounding faculty and staff scholarship. To make the process easier for faculty and staff, the University Libraries provides ThinkIR staff, whose role is to deposit scholarship into ThinkIR.

    The ThinkIR staff will create a profile for you, help your post your biography, and populate your site with your scholarship, including examining any related copyright limitations and processing concerns.

    Additionally, the ThinkIR staff will:

    • Advise you on the services the Libraries provide and how we can best serve you.
    • Create citations for each of your works.
    • Deposit your scholarship on your behalf.
    • Manage long-term preservation and accessibility of your scholarly materials through various University Libraries preservation strategies.
    • Research the copyright status when necessary of your publication agreements and your scholarly works.

    Who Do I Contact?

    The ThinkIR staff will help faculty and staff contribute your scholarship to ThinkIR. They will complete much of the process for you, making your scholarship more visible and accessible to a worldwide audience. Open access is crucial to the future of research and scholarship, making academic work available to all researchers, not just those who can afford it.

    Contact Information

    Sarah Frankel
    Open Access and Repository Coordinator
    University of Louisville
    Phone: 502-852-8788
    thinkir@louisville.edu