Sigma Repository History

1970 - The resolution for the establishment of a library was presented to Sigma Theta Tau International's (Sigma) House of Delegates in 1979 by Virginia Henderson, Eleanor Herrmann and Anne Bavier. From that time forward, Sigma's leaders and membership were committed to developing a national nursing library resource offering services to nurses and those interested in nursing.

1985 - In 1985, Sigma received a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., to fund activities and explore the development of a Center for Nursing Scholarship with a computerized library in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Because of the dedication and support Sigma received from its leaders, membership, nursing colleagues and friends of nursing, the Center was completed and dedicated in only four years.

1990 - In December 1990, Miss Virginia Henderson gave her approval for Sigma's electronic library to be named in her honor. The nursing resources developed for the library moved to the Internet in 1995, through funding from the Helene Fuld Health Trust.

2000 - The library received an extraordinary gift of US $2 million in 2000 from the generous Indianapolis philanthropist, Ruth Lilly, to expand and develop nursing research resources online.

2001 - In January 2001, library visioning meetings were held. Participants encompassed representatives from around the world and included individuals with diversified backgrounds such as research, library science, informatics and integrated technology. Based on information received from the participants at the visioning meetings, input from library users and advice from library consultants, a futuristic plan of action was developed. The physical library began a years-long journey of thoughtful disassembly, and its holdings were donated to other libraries and institutions. In its place, a newly envisioned online abstract database, connecting nurse researchers around the world. The Circle, Sigma's online social media website, brings that connectivity feature to its members today.

2011 - The Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library website, containing over 40,000 abstracts from nursing conferences and unpublished papers, was reimagined and redesigned. It began a transition from online abstract database to open access repository. The new focus and platform allowed for full-text submissions in multiple formats and included a more efficient data management system.

2013 - In 2013 the transformation to a full-text scholarly, academic, and clinical repository was completed. The transformation included a name change: The Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository (the "Henderson Repository").

2019 - In 2019 the repository was renamed to the Sigma Repository. The name change aligns the repository with Sigma's brand and eliminates confusion regarding its function and purpose.

2024 - The Sigma Repository migrated platforms from DSpace to Elsevier's Digital Commons.

Expanded benefits of the migration:

• Increased browse options. Users will be able to search across all 600+ repositories hosted by Elsevier's Digital Commons.
• Additional online influence tracking. Authors will have free access to both Altmetric (the current tracking option) and PlumX Metrics.
• Scopus harvesting. Nursing materials currently contained in the Scopus database will be integrated into the Sigma Repository.
• Peer Review. Groups that participate in the Sigma Repository will have the option to create and manage a site-specific open access journal to showcase their work.
• Temporary Exhibits. Groups will have the option to highlight their materials in a curated museum-quality experience.