News
WUR’s Edepot 15 year!
From a dissertation dating back to 1920 to a scientific poster or a report on salmon trout in the Geul, WUR Library’s Edepot houses over 600,000 documents. This year marks the Edepot's 15th anniversary, a good opportunity to highlight its contents and showcase its crucial role in WUR's knowledge infrastructure.
History of the Edepot
Before 2009, WUR’s research output was electronically and decentrally stored across different locations. To facilitate storage, the Library initiated the development of a central storage facility, ensuring also a persistent link to all records.
Repository for WUR’s research output
The WUR Edepot is a repository for WURs scientific output. This encompasses everything from peer-reviewed articles and book chapters to posters and media contributions. When copyright allows, the Library stores the publisher's PDF. Publications that are not open access are made publicly accessible after six months via the Taverne scheme, provided they meet the necessary criteria. The Edepot also provides the links to the publisher's PDF for other non-open access publications.
The Edepot is not directly searchable, but you can search its contents through the Library's catalogue and Research@WUR.
WUR dissertations
WUR Library has digitised all printed dissertations from Wageningen University. The Edepot now archives almost 9,000 WUR dissertations, with the oldest dating to 1920: Beekman, H. A. J. M. (1920).Economische gevolgtrekkingen, voortvloeiende uit een analyse van den djati-opstand en van het djati-boschbedrijf op Java.
From 2018 to 2024, dissertations were downloaded 10.8 million times. The most downloaded dissertation in the period 2018 to 2024, with 35,527 downloads is: E. Heuvelink (1996). Tomato growth and yield: quantitative analysis and synthesis. Fun fact: Ep Heuvelink still works at WUR’s Horticulture and Product Physiology (HPP) group!
Master's theses from Osiris are also included in the Edepot. Although many are confidential, some are publicly accessible and searchable in the MSc theses online database.
WUR reports and grey publications
The Edepot also houses WUR reports, other publications with a DOI, and types of documents, including manuals, info sheets, and white papers. These can be accessed through multiple systems, including WUR Library Search and Research@WUR. Many WUR research institutes have long-running report series. These are also stored in the Edepot.
Some research groups have opted to permanently store confidential reports in the Edepot. This allows for future public access, such as Open Government Acts requests or when confidentiality expires.
Professional journals: Groen Kennisnet and Hydrotheek
The Edepot serves as a valuable resource for education and professionals in the Dutch green and water management sector. Groen Kennisnet and Hydrotheek are key contributors. They provide access to professional journals and reports that would otherwise not be available online. Approximately 40% of the Edepot’s content comes from Groen Kennisnet and the Hydrotheek. The Edepot houses, for example, the back archive of the Dutch professional journals Veeteelt and H2O.
The Hydrotheek is a knowledge base maintained by the Library on behalf of STOWA. STOWA is the knowledge centre of the regional water authorities (mostly the water boards). In the Hydrotheek you can find over 50,000 resources on water management in the Netherlands.
Groen Kennisnet is the platform for knowledge sharing about the green domain (agriculture, food and nature). Groen Kennisnet is financed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN), the green education column and the Gemeenschappelijk Landbouwbeleid (GLB). Wageningen University & Research is executing the project.
Statistics
The Edepot currently houses 608,091 files. The number of downloads has increased from 2018 to 2024, reflecting the Edepot's growing importance as a knowledge resource for researchers, students and the general public.
Number of downloads past 6 years
- 2018: 7.5 million downloads
- 2019: 8.4 million downloads
- 2020: 11.5 million downloads
- 2021: 14.9 million downloads
- 2022: 13.5 million downloads
- 2023: 11.8 million downloads
- 2024 (Jan–Sept): 10.1 million downloads
Top 10 most downloaded publications 2018 – 2024
- Manuel pratique de pisciculture du poisson-chat Africain (Clarias gariepinus), 1985. 103,842 downloads
- The role of agriculture in economic development, 2007. 76,048 downloads
- Approaches and methods for monitoring and evaluation, 2011. 65,821 downloads
- Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security, 2013. 47,854 downloads
- Wat levert een Zonneweide per ha op?, 2015. 46,407 downloads
- Feiten en cijfers over de Nederlandse veehouderijsectoren 2018, 2018. 43,585 downloads
- Bio-based and biodegradable plastics, 2017. 40,152 downloads
- Oilseeds business opportunities in Ethiopia 2009, 2009. 39,291 downloads
- Papaya (Carica papaya L.) Biology and Biotechnology, 2007. 38,361 downloads
- Handbook for modern greenhouse rose cultivation, 2001. 37,618 downloads