Primary sources and scholarship are just clicks away

Each month I receive a brief email summary of the prior month’s download statistics on our online digital repository.  The global reach of the web facilitates access to primary sources and generative scholarship on a scale of volume and accessibility that was almost beyond our comprehension just a few ago.

Each month, without fail, I am amazed to see what the most popular items and publication are.  Month after month, with few exceptions, our Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD’s) and Stone-Campbell Books take the top spots by a fair margin.  Primary sources and generative scholarship, downloaded by the tens of thousands by readers in 179 countries.

Seeing the stats never gets old.  Neither does pondering what those usage statistics might mean.  What items from our past will someone find next that will mark a turning point in their research project? What article or piece of scholarship will someone download that result in new or better understanding?

This screen shot is not clickable, so here are the direct links:

The most popular papers were:
Church Directory and List of Preachers of Churches of Christ (4940 downloads)
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books/416
The Effect of Anxiety and Depression on College Students’ Academic Performance: Exploring Social Support as a Moderator (2980 downloads)
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/51
The Ethical Considerations of Physician-assisted Suicide (590 downloads)
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/dialogue/vol4/iss1/12

The most popular publications were:
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (11441 downloads)
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd
Stone-Campbell Books (7657 downloads)
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books
Dialogue & Nexus (1363 downloads)
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/dialogue

While on The Sea: A Hymn by Epi Stephan Bilak and Jack Boyd

One of the additions in the 1975 supplement to Great Songs of the Church was Epi Stephan Bilak’s translation of a Ukrainian poem.  Jack Boyd, then professor and Director of Choral Activities at ACC, arranged the music and the song became #669 in the supplement.  Shortly thereafter Boyd and the ACC chorus issued a set of LP albums to assist congregations in learning these additional selections.  Below is a scan of the song from the 1975 edition of Great Songs of the Church, Number Two, With Supplement and a link to the LP album recording which may be streamed or downloaded.  The clip immediately below contains just the Bilak-Boyd version of While on the Sea.

While on the Sea, Epi Stephan Bilak and Jack Boyd – PDF

Supplement to Great Songs of the Church, album, side 7 – mp3

Direct link to While on the Sea audio file

While on the Sea, Epi Stephan Bilak and Jack Boyd, Great Songs of the Church, Number 2, 1975

If you are interested in learning more about Epi Stephan Bilak and his work in Ukraine, please browse these materials in our online repository.