ETDs:
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Building an Institutional Asset
Gail McMillan
Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
What is an ETD?
QuickTime™ and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Contemporary Turkish Coffeehouse
Design Based on Historic Traditions
Timur Oral
MS, Interior Design, April 1997
College of Human Resources and Education, VT
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-2227102539751141/unrestricted/Ali_Pasa.QT
The Current Situation

Basic and substantial applied research in
U.S. takes place in universities
 Primary sources for this research are theses
and dissertations
 A portion of valuable data and material
published
 Theses and dissertations relatively
inaccessible and underutilized
The Vision for ETDs
400,000 masters and PhD candidates
annually exposed to e-publishing in US
 Faster and better information transfer

– Empower students to convey richer
message through use of multimedia
– Universities publish their scholarship

Improve graduate education through
more effectively sharing information
Vision for ETDs: Library Goals
Improve services and resources
 Reduce work
 Save space and money

Library Responsibilities

Hardware: server
– Maintenance and security
– Started small: NeXt 3.3 (HP; 1989-97)
– Grew: Sun dual-processor Enterprise 250 (Solaris
2.7; to date)

Software
– Submission scripts
– Email notifications: authors, advisors, UMI
– Logs, surveys

Search Engine
– Started small: freeWAIS
– Grew: InfoSeek’s ULTRASEEK
Financial Concerns

At VT: start-up costs = $0
– On-hand staff, equipment, software,
freeware

From zero base: estimate $65,000
• $24,000
STAFF (part time)
• $36,000
EQUIPMENT
• $15,000
SOFTWARE
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/data/setup.html
From Authoring to Public Access
through Library Services/Resources
1. Graduate student submits ETD
– Directly to library server/permanent archive
– Archiving fee replaces binding fee
2. Graduate School approves ETD
– Automatic email notifications: author,
faculty, UMI
3. ETD immediately accessible
– Per author/advisor’s notification
– Public has appropriate level of access
– ETD database, library’s catalog, OCLC
Status of ETDs at Virginia Tech

Partnership of the Library, Graduate
School, Faculty
 Approved through university governance
(Mar.1996) for full implementation Jan.1997
 Web submission
– Students: http://etd.vt.edu
– Programmers: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ETD-db/)

Workshops for students (and faculty)
 Over 4,107 ETDs approved
 One of 125 universities, 18 associations in
the NDLTD (Networked Digital Library of
Theses and Dissertations)
Benefits: Increased Access

Low margin, high use
– Incorporate ETDs with other digital library
activities
• Ejournals, online class materials, digital images,
etc.
• Additional equipment, staff may not be necessary
– http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/data/setup.html
– Use VT programs, scripts, etc.
• http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ETD-db/

Online vs. circulation of copies
Accesses to VT’s ETDs
Total requests
Daily requests
ETD requests
Abstract requests
Hosts served


1998
465,974
1,722
244,987
177,647
28,022
1999
1,190,113
3,016
671,981
217,796
35,593
2000
1,894,510
5,176
734,807
320,273
105,632
2001
5,303,094
17,380
2,236,982
420,718
331,240
VT theses approved 1990-1994, combined average circulation
per copy: 2.24/yr
VT dissertations approved 1990-1994, combined average
circulation per copy: 3.2/yr
Access to VT ETDs: USA 2001
.edu (USA)
59.0%
.org (non-profit)
0.5%
.mil (USA)
0.5%
.gov (USA)
0.6%
.com
26.1%
.net
13.5%
International Access to VT ETDs
United Kingdom
Germany
Canada
France
Italy
Japan
Spain
Australia
Turkey
Taiwan
Brazil
1999
2000
2001
Netherlands
Portugal
Thailand
Malaysia
Poland
Singapore
-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
Why are ETDs so popular?

Accessible
 Alternative means of conveying information
 Attractive as well as informative
– colorful images
– movement and sound
– display for on-screen viewing

Expanded network of research colleagues
 Surveys: authors, readers, alumni
4107 VT ETDs
What are Authors Making Available?
Mixed
2.9%
Withheld
17.3%
Restrictted
27.1%
Available
52.6%
Challenges to Creating and
Sustaining ETD Collections
 Information
 Access
 Publishing
 Copyright
 Archiving
literacy
Accessibility and ETDs

Inaccessible ETDs
– Patents pending
– Future publication fears

Broken links
– Quality of work remains
• Similar to out-of-print articles

Media standards
Publishing and ETDs
 Authors
– Retain some rights, e.g., link to curriculum vitae,
online course materials
 Faculty:
prior publication?
– Protective of future academics
 Surveys
of publishers
– No specific policies
– Consider individually

VT ETD Alumni
– No problems publishing
Copyright and ETDs

Author’s rights
– Reproduction, modification, distribution, public
performance, public display
• Retain rights
• Share non-exclusive rights
– Permit library to store and to provide access
– Publishers

Author’s obligations: fair use
– Balance factors or get permission

Notification: optional
Copyright 2002 by Gail McMillan ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Registration: optional
– Possibly receive greater compensation, with less
documentation if filing infringement law suit
Archiving and ETDs

Concerns: Access without paper
– Long term preservation
– Standard multimedia formats
– http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/archive.html

Addressed Concerns
– Frequent, regular back-ups available on, off-site
– PDF: an open source program
– Cooperatives
• OhioLink
• Why not: OCLC, NDLTD?
– Commercial options
• UMI: traditional microfilming
Lessons from ETDs

Implementation of new formats slower than
expected
– Text oriented
– Not planning for online readers


Requiring institutions slower than expected
If you build it, it will get used.
– access exceeded expectations
– disappointing number are inaccessible


Remarkable increase in exposure to graduate
student research
No longer experimental
– increase in number and diversity of NDLTD institutions
Available at Virginia Tech

Information
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses

Automated submission system ready for
customization
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ETD-db/

Student guidelines, training materials,
FAQ's, multimedia educational materials
http://etd.vt.edu

NDLTD: Network educational institutions
– Annual Conferences: Berlin 2003, U of Kentucky 2004
http://www.ndltd.org
ETDs:
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Building an Institutional Asset
Gail McMillan
Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries, Virginia Tech
gailmac@vt.edu