Celebrating the public domain

I extensively use public domain material for my research, and I access it using the UNR library services portals. I frequently consult government documents, including agency reports and the Congressional Record. In researching my 2022 book, which primarily dealt with events prior to 1929, having access to public domain documents and texts was invaluable.

I use public domain material in my historical documentary work including Struggle & Hope which aired on public television nationally.

It has prompted both opportunities and ideas for numerous future projects, not only for my own research but also for graduate advisees. In many instances, by building on the established contributions of others, it helps scholars like myself to avoid having to reinvent the (data) wheel.

Public domain datasets have enhanced my research in health communication by allowing me to analyze trends, identify patterns, and connect these insights to practical communication strategies.

I rely heavily on public domain materials in my research! I use federal and state documents related to court cases and legislative processes for the legal aspects of the work I do, and much of the journalistic content I use--in popular and trade publications--is in the public domain because the copyright has expired, even when it can be hard to locate or access.

As a scholar of nineteenth-century French(-Canadian) literature, I'm lucky to be able to rely on public domain material in most of my research. For this book, I relied heavily on access to public domain material, including nearly all of the primary texts I analyze, which are now out of print.

I used U.S. government materials in my new book on the Cuban Missile Crisis. I accessed them at the U.S. National Archives, in presidential libraries, and in the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) edited volumes.