VTechWorks
VTechWorks provides global access to Virginia Tech scholarship, including journal articles, books, theses, dissertations, conference papers, slide presentations, technical reports, working papers, administrative documents, videos, images, and more by faculty, students, and staff. Faculty can deposit items to VTechWorks from Elements, including journal articles covered by the University open access policy. Email vtechworks@vt.edu for help.
Open Access Policy
Virginia Tech's open access policy enables researchers to deposit the accepted version of scholarly articles with no embargo.
Theses and Dissertations
Virginia Tech was first in the world to require ETDs in 1997, and continues to add scans of older theses and dissertations.
Open Textbooks
More than 50 freely available and openly licensed textbooks are among our most downloaded items.
Communities in VTechWorks
Select a community to browse its collections.
Recent Submissions
Let’s do COVID: cultural orientation in online education—via instructional design
Al Amri, Kamla; Johnson, Alicia Leinaala (Springer, 2025-11-01)
This literature review investigates the role of cultural diversity in instructional design within online learning environments. Through a structured review of literature from 2010 to 2023, including seminal works and recent studies, this research examines how culture is defined, researched, and implemented in instructional design. The review was guided by five research questions exploring: definitions of culture in instructional design literature, research approaches to studying culture, implementation in the instructional design process, differences in cultural considerations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and challenges arising from cultural diversity. Key findings reveal an evolution from static to dynamic definitions of culture in instructional design. While theoretical frameworks for implementing culture in instructional design have matured, practical application remains challenging. The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed both innovations and setbacks in cultural considerations for online learning design. Persistent challenges include creating materials accessible across diverse populations, addressing socioeconomic barriers, and overcoming resource constraints in evaluation practices. This review contributes to the field by synthesizing current knowledge about cultural considerations in instructional design while identifying significant gaps in research and practice. Findings can inform more effective approaches to incorporating cultural considerations in instructional design, particularly in increasingly diverse online learning environments.
Sunset Planning: Lessons and Tools for Responsible Stewardship of Community Digital Infrastructure and Projects
Becker, Snowden; Kinnaman, Alex; Vowell, Zachary; Wiseman, Christine (Digital Library Federation, 2025-11-16)
Sharing lessons from the sunset of the twenty-year-old digital preservation network MetaArchive, this workshop provides tools to help community-based digital infrastructure and projects anticipate endings and pivotal changes as a part of holistic sustainability planning; express core values; and address diverse member needs as part of graceful change management.
We Are the [Project] Champions: Collaborative Project Management in a Digital Imaging Lab
Kinnaman, Alex; Westblade, Julia (Digital Library Federation, 2025-11-18)
This presentation details the system of committees Virginia Tech University Libraries uses to evaluate digitization projects, consult with stakeholders, and oversee production. Involving a team ensures digital collections at VTUL are diverse, equitable, and accessible. The presentation will highlight workflows and strategies for project management of several large, concurrent projects.
Remote Work Disrupts State Occupational Licensing: The $1.6 Trillion Regulatory Federalism Challenge
Edisis, Adrienne T.; Phutane, Aditya Sai (Sage, 2025-11)
States regulate professional services using occupational licensing regimes instituted pre-1900 when services were completely internal commerce of states. Now, services flow digitally across state lines along national internet infrastructure, raising new Constitutional questions of state vs. federal regulatory jurisdiction. Using state administrative data and occupational digitizability indicators, we estimate that a mean across the 50 states of 35% of state-occupationally-licensed workers can remotely deliver their services with value totaling $1.6 trillion in 2024. This threatens state policy-maker jurisdiction over occupational regulation and spotlights the digital era federalism conflict between state sovereignty and national regulatory coherence in an increasingly de-spatialized economy.
Dante, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Former Dry Cleaners Building
Gleason, Harry (2025-03-31)