[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Electronic Theses/Dissertations



Hello,

While previously at the New Jersey institute of Technology (NJIT) I was
responsible for implementing our Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETD)
project.  Due to the political environment it was decided to take "baby steps"
in regards to the project.  We became a member institution of the Networked
Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD http://www.ndltd.org/).  We
attended the ETD 2000 and EDT 2001 Symposiums and would highly recommend
attendance at EDT 2002, which will be at BYU on May 30 to June 1 this year
(http://ce.byu.edu/cw/etd2002/).  This symposium is a great place for meeting
and discussing ETDs with other practitioners both experienced and novice.

Our project took on a different approach than most.  It was felt that to
mandate electronic submission at the present would be too difficult as the
impetus for the project was being driven by the library with the support of the
Graduate Studies Office.  To make a completely effective wholly electronic ETD
project, buy-in is needed from the faculty and computing services on campus.

So to demonstrate the merits of the project we decided to begin by scanning
incoming theses and dissertations (T/Ds) and to retrospectively scan (upon
request) existing T/Ds.  Treating existing bound T/Ds as rare books we had them
removed from the general stacks and placed into a storage room newly outfitted
for them. During that process we found two that had been gutted by someone with
a razor, another reason for locking them up.

We hired and trained a students to scan the T/Ds (bound T/Ds with a Minolta
PS7000 book scanner and the loose-leaf incoming T/Ds with a high speed Cannon
scanner).  The pages are scanned to TIFF images for archival purposes and
converted to PDF for presentation purposes.  The incoming T/Ds are placed in
archival storage boxes and placed in the T/D Storage Room.

The next stage which has not yet been started is to develop a pilot program for
electronic submission.  As word got out, we have accepted several T/Ds in PDF
in addition to the paper from students of their own volition.

Prior to my leaving NJIT in December, we had begun to do web use statistics and
had over 10,000 hits since putting the first ETD up in March 2001.  They really
do get used.  We had created online request and feedback forms and were
receiving requests from all over the world.  I had even received a nice
Christmas email from one person in Vietnam who had requested the digitization
of several T/Ds.  Please visit NJIT's ETD website for more information
(http://www.library.njit.edu/etd/index.html). This site was nominated this
spring for the New Jersey Library Association's College & University Section's
Innovation in Information & Technology Award.

Thank you -- Dan Noonan

"Lathrop, Suellyn A" wrote:

> Hello,
> I'm gathering information regarding the transition from paper to electronic
> theses/dissertations.  Would like to hear experiences from those who have
> gone through this transition.  What should we expect the first year to be
> like?  How did you do it?  What would you do differently?  Are you still
> creating archival paper copies after electronic copies are available?  Do
> you expect to continue with paper copies?
>
> Thanks very much.
>
> Suellyn Lathrop
> University Archivist
> East Carolina University
> 252-328-0272 phone
> 252-328-4834 fax
>
> www.lib.ecu.edu/~.htm
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
>                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

--
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"The librarian will have to be a more active participant in staving off
"infochaos." If the traditional  librarian has been conceived as a   figure at
home in the discreet silences and cautious dealings of a Henry James novel, now
perhaps the right model will be found in James Fenimore Cooper or the Star
Wars films: something between the pathfinder Natty Bumppo and the Jedi knight."

"Avatars of the Word" James J. O'Donnell, Ph.D., 1998
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>