Maryland Shared Open Access Repository

MD-SOAR is a shared digital repository platform for twelve colleges and universities in Maryland. It is currently funded by the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) Library Consortium (usmai.org) and other participating partner institutions. MD-SOAR is jointly governed by all participating libraries, who have agreed to share policies and practices that are necessary and appropriate for the shared platform. Within this broad framework, each library provides customized repository services and collections that meet local institutional needs. Please follow the links below to learn more about each library's repository services and collections.

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Recent Submissions

The Pragmatic Nexus Between Public Procurement Governance and Socioeconomic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities from Interactive Governance Models
(2025-11) Maliganya, Emmanuel; Gibson, Ed; Yukins, Christopher; Michael, Eleftherios; University of Baltimore. College of Public Affairs, School of Public and International Affairs; University of Baltimore. Doctor of Public Adimistration
This dissertation examines the nexus between public procurement governance and socioeconomic development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a particular attention to the opportunities and presented by interactive governance models. Recognizing public procurement as a pivotal mechanism for channeling public resources, the research addresses a critical gap in empirical research linking procurement governance to developmental outcomes in the region. The central hypothesis posits that effective procurement governance significantly enhances socioeconomic development, and that interactive governance models—characterized by stakeholder participation, transparency, accountability, flexibility, and sustainability—can further strengthen this relationship. The study adopts a mixed-methods design that combines cross-country quantitative analysis using data from established international sources with a framework-based quantitative content analysis of procurement legal frameworks in 25 SSA countries, alongside an in-depth case study of Tanzania. The quantitative analysis demonstrates that procurement governance effectiveness is a strong and statistically significant predictor of socioeconomic development, measured using the Human Development Index (HDI) and explaining a substantial share of cross-country variation. Corruption perception is identified as a critical mediating factor, with lower perceived corruption associated with stronger adoption of interactive procurement governance practices. The content analysis of principal procurement legislations across SSA demonstrates uneven progress where most countries have codified transparency and accountability, but flexibility, stakeholder participation, and sustainability are underdeveloped. The Tanzania case study corroborates these findings, highlighting improvements in transparency through e-procurement with persistent gaps in participatory and sustainable practices. These insights are synthesized into the Public Procurement Governance Maturity Model (PPGMM), which categorizes countries along a continuum ranging from rule-based compliance to transformative interactive governance. The dissertation concludes that although SSA countries have made significant strides in consolidating rule-based procurement governance, further progress requires embedding participatory and sustainable practices into legal frameworks and institutional practice. The findings advance theoretical debates by integrating Principal–Agent, Stewardship, Network, Collaborative, and Institutional theories, and offer practical guidance for policymakers, regulators, and development partners.
Examining Accessibility and Accessibility Standards for XR
(2026-01-23) Riemer, Jonathan C.; Summer, Kathyrn, Ph.D.; Walsh, Greg, Phd.D.; University of Baltimore. Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences; University of Baltimore. Master of Science in Interaction Design and Information Architecture
This paper focuses on the use of Extended Reality (XR), encompassing Mixed Reality (MR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR), in the context of users with disabilities. Standards for accessibility design in XR have not yet been ratified by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), yet large global tech companies, such as Meta and Google, are already releasing XR platforms for public consumption.
UNIFORMITY IN RELATIVE HABITAT SELECTION BY BUTEO LINEATUS AND B. PLATYPTERUS IN TWO TEMPERATE FOREST REGIONS
(1984) Titus, Kimberly; Mosher, James A.; Biological Sciences; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Science
I have examined nest site habitat use and selection by two woodland hawk species, Buteo platypterus (Broad-winged Hawk, BWH), and b lineatus (Red-shouldered Hawk, RSH). The hypothesis tested was that species select similar nesting habitat in dissimilar regions after accounting for differences in habitat availability. Study sites were located in northeast Wisconsin {WI) and in western Maryland {MD). Twenty-seven characteristics were measured at active nest sites from 1978 through 1982. Also, random samples were collected to estimate habitat availability. Sample sizes were: 87 MD BWH, 34 WI BWH, 30 MD RSH, 22 WI RSH, 100 MD random, and 73 WI random. The two regions differed in structural features of the available habitat, and both species selected only portions of the available habitat within each region. Also, habitat use by BWH and RSH differed between regions. To determine whether relative habitat selection differed between regions for each hawk species, I adjusted for regional differences -u-sing a series of 'Z' score rescalings of the availability data. Study area differences were eliminated by these transformations. The resultant data vectors were then applied to the specific hawk data sets for tests of habitat selection uniformity. Relative habitat selection was uniform between regions. For the BWH, only two of 18 rescaled variables were different between regions. Three of 18 rescaled variables were different between regions for RSH. I contend that these two species have uniform patterns of habitat selection. Differences in habitat use between regions may merely reflect habitat availability related to differences in scale between regions.
Engaging Aging: Exploring the Efficacy of Gamification in Promoting Mobility Among Older Adults
(2026) Skenandore, Keira R.; Walsh, Greg; Ward, Bridget; University of Baltimore. Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences; University of Baltimore. Master of Science in Interaction Design and Information Architecture
This thesis explores the application of gamification, which incorporates game elements into non-game contexts, as a strategy to support mobility, physical activity, and engagement among older adults. With the aging global population facing heightened risks of social isolation, cognitive decline, and physical limitations, innovative approaches are needed to promote well-being and independence. Despite gamification’s demonstrated effectiveness across diverse user groups, limited research has focused on its specific impact and usability for adults over 60. This study examines how gamification can enhance motivation, encourage physical activity, and foster social connection for this demographic. Using participatory design methods, this research captures firsthand insights from older adults regarding their preferences and interactions with gamification elements like progress tracking, levels, and more. Key findings suggest that accessible, goal-oriented features aligned with Self-Determination Theory, which emphasizes autonomy, competence, and relatedness as drivers of motivation, can significantly enhance motivation and engagement, particularly when tailored to address age-related cognitive and physical needs. Additionally, the study highlights critical design considerations, such as simplified interfaces and familiar features, to overcome technology barriers common among older adults. By offering actionable insights for designers and stakeholders, this research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on gamification, underscoring its potential as a tool for fostering active, healthy aging and improving the quality of life for older adults.
THE INDIGENOUS CULTURAL LANDSCAPE: EXPLORING A COMMUNITY-CENTERED APPROACH TO HERITAGE PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES
(2026-01) Larson, Flynn; Bradley, Betsy; MA in Historic Preservation
Preservation becomes meaningful only when it honors the ongoing relationships that connect communities to their cultural landscapes. Cultural landscapes hold memory, knowledge, and belonging, yet preservation in the United States has long relied on frameworks that separate people from place and privilege tangible form over relationships. These systems shape what counts as heritage and whose stories are recognized. This thesis argues that centering relational worldviews, rooted in continuity, reciprocity, and responsibility, offers a path to transform preservation into a practice that reflects the living significance of place. This study positions the Indigenous Cultural Landscape (ICL) framework as a practical and ethical model for reorienting preservation toward place-based stewardship. The framework expands, rather than replaces, existing tools and provides a structure that practitioners can apply to landscapes to strengthen relationships between communities and the lands they call home. It moves preservation from compliance to care, from procedure to partnership, from documentation to relationship. Indigenous voices—of elders, scholars, and community advocates—whose teachings and lived experiences redefine what preservation can mean. Their perspectives form the foundation of this study. Drawing from Indigenous scholarship, community narratives, and public discourse, I demonstrate how this thinking parallels work undertaken both in the United States and internationally. If we can rehabilitate, restore, and reconstruct the physical fabric of places, we can also restore the ethics of the discipline itself by aligning practice with equity, accountability, and relationship. The Indigenous Cultural Landscape framework builds upon earlier models by advancing a community-first approach that prioritizes Indigenous worldviews of continuity, stewardship, and relationship over Western notions of access and ownership. I acknowledge the dedication of those trying to reconcile the existing authorized heritage discourse in these systems with the values they aim to protect, as I address how documentation processes identify landscapes but rarely reflect their living significance, and management structures still separate consultation from collaboration. I recognize the progress already made while offering a clear guide and rationale for why and how we must continue. Ultimately, I aim to bridge commitment and action, aligning federal intent with community leadership and providing practitioners with a framework that links ethics, process, and practice. I apply the Indigenous Cultural Landscape framework to Bear Lodge, also known as Devils Tower National Monument, to demonstrate how Indigenous and federal perspectives on stewardship converge and how relationship-based preservation can emerge from that dialogue. Comparative examples from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand further illustrate how relational worldviews can be integrated into national heritage systems. In a broader sense, this treatise contributes to theory by integrating Indigenous epistemologies and lived experience into preservation discourse. It contributes to practice by providing a framework for agencies, including the National Park Service, to embed relational worldviews into documentation and management. It aligns with former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s Secretarial Order 3403 (2021) and the Department of the Interior’s Guidance on Indigenous Knowledge (2022), which affirm the federal responsibility to support Indigenous sovereignty, dignity, and traditional land use. I recognize that preservation must operate as a relational act of reciprocity that sustains communities and landscapes. The Indigenous Cultural Landscape framework transforms preservation from a record of the past into a living dialogue of care, sovereignty, and belonging.