Our history
In 1994, the Internet was in its early days, and William G. Bowen—then president of the Mellon Foundation—conceived of JSTOR to solve a growing problem: university and college libraries were running out of space for expanding scholarly collections.
His idea was transformative: convert printed journals into digital form and store them in a shared online archive. This innovation helped reduce storage costs, free up physical space, and vastly improve access to research.
Decades later, JSTOR is a thriving nonprofit working with more than 14,000 libraries, museums, and publishers worldwide. Through our products and services, JSTOR has transformed access to scholarly materials—including journals, books, images and other primary sources—to reach more than 100 million users each year.
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What will the next 30 years bring?
Explore more about JSTOR’s evolution and impact.
Philosophy and JSTOR inside an Ohio prison
A visit to Southeastern Correctional Institution gives the JSTOR Access in Prison team a closer look at how learners use JSTOR and how community shapes education inside.
What’s new in JSTOR Stewardship: July 2026
This month’s JSTOR Stewardship update welcomes new participating institutions, highlights newly available collections on JSTOR, and shares recent work from the digital stewardship community. Featured stories include AI-assisted collections processing, expanded access to distinctive materials, and community-led efforts to make digital collections more discoverable.
AI is changing research behaviors: How JSTOR preserves thinking and learning
As AI becomes part of the research process, JSTOR is exploring how to design tools that strengthen critical thinking, support research skills, and keep human judgment at the center of learning.
Making JSTOR more accessible worldwide
Learn how JSTOR’s country-based savings and JSTOR Access Initiative help expand access to scholarly resources worldwide, and why the Human Development Index will guide eligibility and pricing beginning in 2027.
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services secures funding to help institutions expand public access to distinctive collections
With support from the Mellon Foundation, JSTOR Stewardship is launching a new initiative to help participants digitize collections and expand public access.
Catalyzing a more public future for distinctive collections: A new initiative within JSTOR Stewardship
New support from the Mellon Foundation will help expand JSTOR Stewardship, giving more libraries and archives the tools to digitize, process, preserve, and share distinctive collections through JSTOR so original sources can reach broader audiences.
The University of North Dakota joins JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services to advance access to collections
The University of North Dakota joins JSTOR Stewardship, expanding discovery and access to its distinctive digital collections through JSTOR.
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services training: Project cataloging
Training for Stewardship participants (Tiers 2-3): catalog records, manage media, use linked fields, and organize work. One of three sessions in a monthly Stewardship training series.
Eastern Michigan University expands partnership with JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services by joining Tier 3 charter program
Eastern Michigan University joins JSTOR Stewardship’s Tier 3 charter program, building on its role as an early JSTOR Seeklight beta partner to advance responsible, AI-assisted stewardship.