Brew to Bikes and Other Top Downloads in PDXScholar

PDXScholar, the university’s repository for faculty and student scholarship, saw tremendous growth in 2014, with more than 342,000 downloads.  A new report from the Library’s Digital Initiatives Unit details the fourth year of operation for PDXScholar, highlighting growth, milestones, and accomplishments of 2014 and goals for 2015.

brew to bikes

An illustration from Brew to Bikes: Portland’s Artisan Economy

Student and faculty work continued to garner considerable attention. The most downloaded item was Brew to Bikes: Portland’s Artisan Economy, published by Ooligan Press in 2010. The book, authored by Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies & Planning Associate Professor Charles Heying, with chapters contributed by students and others, was downloaded 5,741 times in 2014 alone.

Next on the top-downloads list? Social Control Theory and Delinquency, a dissertation written in 1978 by Michael Wiatrowski for his PhD in Urban Studies.

The top-downloaded items from 2014 represent the diversity of participants and disciplines in the Library’s repository and publishing program, with contributions from faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students from the social sciences, humanities, and sciences.

Here’s the complete list of the top 20 downloads in 2014:


The Digital Initiatives Unit added 2,766 new items to PDXScholar in 2014, and the average download per item was 72. PDXScholar has grown to include over 6,700 items, including faculty scholarship, student publications, archival photos, and campus events.

PDXScholar documents, preserves, and promotes the academic achievements and scholarly work produced at Portland State University.

See the report: PDXScholar Annual Report (2014)