ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst is an institutional repository that collects, manages, and disseminates intellectual output of UMass Amherst faculty, researchers, and students. In less than five years, it has become one of the top five Digital Commons repositories with more than 23,000 items and over half-a-million full-text downloads. ScholarWorks content recruitment strategies are examined as a case study for the development of an institutional repository. The authors aim to provide best practices for developing a digital repository in academic settings and inspire colleagues to explore and adapt new strategies.