This etching on paper by Italian draughtsman and printmaker Stefano della Bella is likely to have been one of the works that brought the DRS to its 500,000th upload.
This milestone comes as the library celebrates a decade of supporting the DRS as a service for the university community. In those 10 years, a few files have emerged as the most popular, seeing consistent traffic year after year, including:
This “Ancient Aliens” meme from the One Marathon collection is the most viewed file in the DRS.
Internet Meme: “Ancient Aliens” meme — The most viewed file in the DRS is a variation of the Ancient Aliens meme from the Our Marathon collection, which contains crowdsourced images, documents, and audio-visual content related to the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon. The file has been viewed 51,598 times since 2018, averaging more than 7,000 views a year.
Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS): Full Test — The most streamed audio or video file in the DRS is a test instrument that is widely used in the field of psychology. The full test video has been streamed 21,979 since 2015, averaging more than 2,000 streams a year.
Northeastern’s electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) provide a valuable record of the university’s scholarly contributions, capturing the evolution of research across numerous academic disciplines over the past two decades. The Digital Repository Service (DRS) preserves all ETDs from 2008 onward, along with selected earlier works, creating a collection of more than 7,500 items spanning over 30 departments and nearly 70 academic programs.
As some of the DRS’ most frequently accessed materials, ETDs offer rich insights into the university’s academic history and digital presence. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the DRS, Digital Production Services (DPS) — the department responsible for managing both the DRS and ETDs — set out to share insights into how theses and dissertations are added to the repository and how Northeastern’s ETD collections have evolved over time.
ETD Creation to DRS Ingest: Process Overview
The ETDs are initially submitted to ProQuest by graduate students as a condition of their graduation. The rules for the submission package and document organization are determined by each program. Once the submission is completed and the student fills out information about their ETD, the file and metadata are sent in via a zip file to a library server. Over the last 5+ years, a local workflow has been developed to:
Export the files and move backups to other networked drives
Record submissions in a spreadsheet to ensure file provenance
Document any additional information, such as embargo dates or original file names, in case there are issues with the submission
Review, normalize, and transform the existing ProQuest metadata to create DRS-compliant records for each file
Add degree, school, and department information to each record to support the DRS collection structure
Ingest the ETDs into their corresponding collections in the DRS
Generate digital object identifiers (DOIs) for each ETD
Conduct name authority control on all advisor and committee member names
Filtering options for ETDs in the DRS.
New ETDs are processed and ingested every 2-3 months, depending on the time of year and the volume of ETD submissions, and can involve anywhere from 30 to 100 ETDs at a time. DOIs are generated and ETD contributor names are reviewed bi-annually.
General Growth
The total number of ETDs submitted by Northeastern students has increased significantly since 2008. From 2008-2010, there was an average of around 190 documents submitted annually. As the 2010s continued, that number steadily increased from 353 in 2013 to 583 in 2019. There was a small dip in 2020, possibly due to COVID interrupting degree completions, but since then, there have been approximately 540-590 ETDs submitted each year.
Degree Distribution
Almost 90% of ETDs produced from 2008-2010 were either for Ph.D. or MS degrees, but as the School of Education started producing theses for the Ed.D. degree, those quickly became common, and represented 34% of all ETDs produced by 2020. Additional degree programs also started producing ETDs from 2010-2020, with MA, DLP, and MFA degrees representing almost 5% of ETDs during that period. In the last 4-5 years, numbers have stabilized, with Ph.D. dissertations regularly accounting for around 45% of all ETDs, Ed.D. theses around 35%, MS theses hovering around 15%, and all other degree types filling out the remaining 5%.
Data visualization showing ETD submissions by degree type from 2008-2014. Created by Claude (Antropic) based on analysis of dataset exported from the DRS and transformed by the author. Generated May 2025.
College, School, Department, and Program Representation
Data visualization showing ETD submission by college from 2008-2024. Created by Claude (Anthropic) based on analysis exported from the DRS and transformed by the author. Generated May 2025.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (910)
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (705)
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (316)
Department of Art + Design (271)
Computer Science Program (245)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (242)
School of Pharmacy (212)
Department of Chemical Engineering (209)
Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology (202)
Addition of Supplementary Files
The first ETD to include supplemental files, or files submitted to accompany the ETD PDF file, first appeared in 2013. The number of supplemental files grew throughout the 2010s, with supplemental material representing 4% of all ETD file submissions during that time. Since 2020, the number of supplemental files has seen a slight decline, but there are still regular submissions, with 26 provided in 2024. The college that most often submits these files is the College of Arts, Media, and Design (CAMD), with almost 1 in 4 theses including supplemental materials.
Other notable contributors include COE and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH). The smallest contributor is CPS, which, despite being the largest contributor of ETDs overall, has only 11 total supplemental files since 2013.
Screenshot of a supplementary file page that features a photograph stored in the DRS. Original photo by Hannah M. Groudas.
New Undergraduate Theses
More recently, undergraduate programs from departments like Biology, Biochemistry, Marine and Environmental Science, and Psychology have begun to submit electronic theses directly to DPS staff. DPS offers the same level of service to the undergraduate theses as the graduate ETDs and includes the same metadata in each accompanying description to ensure these materials are as discoverable as the graduate theses and dissertations.
Maintaining ETDs is a vital part of the DRS’ mission, presenting unique challenges that library staff are well-equipped to manage. As the submission processes, file formats, academic disciplines, and research topics continue to evolve, the library remains committed to preserving and providing access to these scholarly works. Through ongoing innovation and stewardship, we ensure that the academic contributions and history of Northeastern students are securely archived and shared for generations to come.
AI acknowledgement: Claude Projects was used to generate data visualizations based on ETD metadata exported from the DRS and transformed into a spreadsheet dataset. Specific visualizations based on identified columns were requested. Project instructions, prompts, and dataset are available here.
Since its initial launch in September 2022, the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive (BNDA) has established itself as one of the most comprehensive digital records of racial homicides collected to date. This blog series aims to highlight the work of the archivists on the BNDA team and their experiences preparing for the launch of BNDA Version 2.0. You can read more about the Version 2.0 update in Gathering the Red Record: A Two-Day Convening on Linking Racial Violence Archives.
Methods Overview
The first thing I have to say about the archival work methods for cataloging news articles at the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project’s BNDA is that they are a team effort. The workflow structure is maintained through shared instructions, templates, the data dictionary, and a responsive, organized supervising team.
All of the archives assistant work is digital. Archives assistants receive batches of news articles to catalog in the form of spreadsheets with links to images of the original newspaper articles stored in the Digital Repository Service. We then verify those articles against information we currently have and complete standardized fields for the information we want supplied. If we encounter a question about the records that we can’t answer with assurance, we flag it to be reviewed by either our supervisors or the legal team.
When completed, those standardized spreadsheets are reviewed by the supervising team and transformed into a format compatible for inclusion in the BNDA. Having multiple team members verify information improves the accuracy of the records and makes for sustainable collections processing practices.
Our goal is to add as much accurate and data-verified cataloged information as possible in order to provide supporting evidence of each incident, case, and victim identifier. These standardized identifiers, as well as authorized names for each unique individual, allow the team to take advantage of the relational-based search capability of the Airtable database. Not only does this system help us make better cataloged records, it allows for more retrievable information for future research.
Examples in the Records
Washington Sniper Victims One example of data verification is to identify the victim(s) present in a news article whenever possible, even when minimal information is present. Breaking news articles often lack details. Names can be absent or incorrect, or focus on the perpetrator of the crime rather than the victim. One strategy I find helpful is to work by victim-subject, going through batches of news articles that are all related to one victim or group of victims. This allows me to glean patterns of context clues that allow for victim identification even if the victim is unnamed.
I found this strategy particularly helpful when working with a case related to a serial sniper who murdered multiple victims in Washington, D.C., in 1940. Three victims identified over the months of press coverage were Hylan McClaine, Lushion Sam Banks, and Theodore I. Goffney, but the chronological order of their murders was not shared. Press coverage of the sniper continued into the 1960s, long after the trial, with inconsistent reference to the victims. At the BNDA, we can link the victim names at the forefront of these articles in our catalog, centering the narrative around the victims rather than the perpetrator.
Bryant Family Murder The research crucial work that aids in the cataloging effort is also on display in the case of the 1932 Bryant family murder. The news coverage of the tragic murder of the Bryant family was sometimes unclear about which family members survived and which were killed in the horrible robbery, torture, and death by arson. Some articles appeared sympathetic to the murderers and provided little to no details on the victims.
Our Airtable database supports a field for notes written by Project Historian Jay Driskell when they are available. Through Jay’s notes, I could confirm with certainty that the father and son, Lewis and Ozola Bryant, were murdered. The mother, Missouri Bryant, survived. The more detailed news articles corroborated these facts. The Bryant murder trial also stands out as a case that upheld the murder charges against a white killer despite appeals up to the Missouri State Supreme Court.
Given the graphic nature of the emotional events and the polarized reporting, I was grateful to have ready, retrievable access to previous work to clarify the Bryant family’s story in order to help me accurately represent the family in the cataloged work. I also benefitted from the concurrent work of another archives assistant and the support of my supervisor, Project Archivist Joy Zanghi.
These cases and many more are available in BNDA Version 2.0 and you can browse the current version now. I had the privilege of working with archival methods developed over the past 18 years of the project, taking into account the humanity of the sensitive subject matter. The final result is that the CRRJ developed an archival format with the BNDA that allows for the data within it to be scalable, buildable, and retrievable for the future.
CRRJ Archives Assistant Stephanie Bennett Rahmat (she/her/hers) has 17 years of experience working with historic and cultural heritage resources throughout the U.S. She completed her Master of Library and Information Science degree at Simmons University in 2021, with a focus on Archives Management and Cultural Heritage. She came to work in the archives and libraries after a career in North American archaeology.
This blog was originally sent as a newsletter for Research Support Staff at Northeastern University on September 3, 2025. If you would like to subscribe to receive future newsletters, please click here.
Did you know the library can help with…your grant proposal?
Join us for our Accelerate Your Proposal Development event! This program is a countdown of proposal-related questions the library can help with, including personalized support for crafting data management and sharing plans, improving your data visualizations and graphics, strategies for efficient literature reviews, and citation management. We’ll share information about the tools and people who can help you develop key proposal components and supplementary materials. Whether you’re in the early stages of developing your proposal or fine-tuning it before submission, we’re happy to work with you.
This virtual event takes place Wednesday, October 29, from noon – 1 p.m. Eastern time. Register here.
Did you know we have access to…tools and services to complete evidence syntheses?
This month, we are highlighting two ways the library can support your evidence synthesis project. Evidence synthesis projects, which often do not require funding, can reveal important research gaps, thus strengthening future grant applications. If you are working on (or considering working on) a systematic review, scoping review, rapid review, or meta-analysis, read on!
Evidence Synthesis Service: Northeastern University Library provides a tiered set of support services for evidence synthesis projects such as systematic reviews, ranging from expert librarian guidance to full research partnerships. See our website and service tiers for more information.
Covidence: Covidence is a web-based evidence synthesis support tool that assists in screening references, data extraction, and keeping track of your work. Covidence requires registration with a Northeastern email address. If you already have an account, please sign in.
Start Smart — Foundations of Evidence Syntheses: Starting September 15, the library will be running a virtual workshop series for faculty and research staff on planning for and embarking on an evidence synthesis project.
Have any questions about completing evidence syntheses? Reach out to our expert, Philip Espinola Coombs.
We want to hear from you!
Research Data Storage Finder: We’re developing an interactive online tool to help researchers quickly narrow down the best platform for their data storage and archiving needs, and we’d love to hear what you think of what we’ve built so far. If you’d like to get a sneak peek and share your feedback, please let us know via this form.
That’s it!
Questions about the library? Email Alissa Link Cilfone, Head of STEM, or Jen Ferguson, Head of Research Data Services — we’d love to hear from you!
The Digital Repository Service (DRS) is an institutional repository that was designed by the Northeastern University Library to help members of the Northeastern community organize, store, and share the digital materials that are important to their role or responsibilities at the university. This can include scholarly works created by faculty and students; supporting materials used in research; photographs and documents that represent the history of the community; or materials that support the day-to-day operations of the university.
While the DRS itself is a technical system that stores digital files and associated information to help users find what they need, we also consider the DRS to be a service for the university community: library staff are here to help you organize, store, share, and manage the digital materials that have long-lasting value for the university community and beyond.
Published research from the Northeastern community available in the DRS.
Northeastern is not alone in this endeavor. Repository services are now standard practice for most academic institutions, including Harvard University Library (who also use the name “Digital Repository Service”), Stanford University Library (a leader in technical development for repository systems), Tufts Libraries, and other institutions around the world.
Who uses the DRS?
The DRS has been used by faculty, staff, students, and researchers from all corners of the university community for 10 years. There are too many use cases to mention in one brief blog post, but here are some trends we’ve seen in what users choose to deposit the last few years.
Publications and data that supports published research
Event recordings, photographs, newspapers, and almost any kind of material you can think of to support the day-to-day operations and activity at the university
Student research projects and classwork, like oral histories and research projects. Students are also required to contribute their final version of their thesis or dissertation.
Digitized and born-digital records from the Archives and Special Collections, including photographs, documents, and audio and video recordings
These files, and all the other audio, video, document, and photograph files in the DRS, have been viewed or downloaded 11.2 million times since the DRS first launched in 2015. Nearly half of the files in the DRS are made available to the public and are therefore available for the wider world to discover. Materials in the DRS have been cited in reporting by CNN, Pitchfork, WBUR, and Atlas Obscura, among others, and are regularly shared on social media or in Reddit threads. As a result, Northeastern continues to contribute the work produced here to the larger scholarly and cultural record, and to the larger world.
Who supports the DRS?
The day-to-day work managing, maintaining, and supporting users of the service comes from staff in Digital Production Services:
Kim Kennedy supervises the digitization of physical materials and processing of born-digital and digitized materials.
Drew Facklam and Emily Allen create and maintain the descriptive metadata that helps you find what you need.
And all of us in the department, including part-time staff, are responsible for general management of the system, including batch ingesting materials, holding consultations and training sessions, answering questions, and leading conversations about how to improve the system and the service.
Sarah Sweeney and David Cliff, DRS staff, posing in 2015 with the homepage of the recently launched DRS.
The DRS is also supported by a number of library staff members across the library:
David Cliff, Senior Digital Library Developer in Digital Infrastructures, is the DRS’ lead developer and system administrator.
Ernesto Valencia and Rob Chavez from the Library Technology Services and Infrastructure departments also provide development support and system administration.
Many librarians in the Research and Instruction department do outreach about the service and support faculty as they figure out how to use it in their work.
Jen Ferguson from Research Data Services also connects faculty and researchers to the DRS, while also providing data management support for those wishing to use the DRS to store their data.
Members of the library administration, including Dan Cohen, Evan Simpson, Tracey Harik, and the recently retired Patrick Yott have contributed their unwavering support and advocacy for developing and maintaining system an service.
We are all here to help you figure out how the DRS may be used to make your work and academic life easier. To dive deeper into what the DRS is and how to use it, visit the DRS subject guide or contact me or my team.
