The University of North Dakota (UND) will begin sharing its digital collections on JSTOR as a Tier 1 participant of JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services, joining a growing community committed to expanding access to distinctive materials.
Through Tier 1, UND’s Chester Fritz Library will be able to publish collections on JSTOR’s research and teaching platform—including text, image, audio, and video content—and benefit from indexing in major search engines and library discovery services.
UND’s decision to join JSTOR Stewardship reflects its commitment to advancing both the visibility and accessibility of its collections. Automatic transcript generation for spoken-word media supports closed captioning and enhances discoverability, while JSTOR’s demonstrated commitment to accessibility extends this impact across a platform visited by more than 100 million users each year.
“As we’ve worked to identify which collections to showcase on JSTOR, I feel like I’m rediscovering our own depth of already digitized content, even as we plan what to digitize next,” said Laura Egan, Head of Collection Strategies, Chester Fritz Library at UND. “We have political papers, cartoons, art, Nuremberg transcripts, government documents, interviews with former prisoners of war—a treasure trove of materials I’m excited to make visible through JSTOR’s search interface.” Fellow team members include Curator and Director of UND Art Collections, Sarah M. Heitkamp; Head of Special Collections, Curt Hanson; and Digital Initiatives Librarian, Zeineb Yousif.
“Positioning our unique collections for broader scholarly visibility has been a strategic priority,” said Rebecca Bichel, Dean of Libraries and Information Resources. One of those distinct collections is UND’s Cable Pottery collection, named after Margaret Kelly Cable who began the program under the School of Mines in 1910. Sarah M. Heitkamp, Curator and Director of UND Art Collections, notes, “By contributing eligible materials on JSTOR, we expand discoverability not only within JSTOR’s global research ecosystem, but also across library discovery platforms that index JSTOR content, including our own institutional infrastructure. This approach advances access, supports research engagement, and situates our collections within the wider scholarly conversation.”
“UND is seeing JSTOR Stewardship as a key part of multiple long-term institutional goals and strategies,” said Jess Clemons, Director of Business Development, JSTOR Stewardship. “With Tier 1, they can expand access now, build evidence for accessibility and impact, and set themselves up for sustained success in these areas and beyond.”
About the University of North Dakota
Founded in 1883, six years before the state itself was established, the University of North Dakota (UND) gave North Dakota its name when the former Dakota territories separated into two distinct states. UND is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota and enrolls over 15,000 students from all 50 U.S. states.
About JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services is a seamless, cloud-hosted platform that unites digital asset management, long-term preservation, and expanded discovery pathways—including sharing on JSTOR—with the AI-assisted collections processing tools of JSTOR Seeklight.