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

Re: Return of thesis materials



On Wed, 19 Jun 2002, Catherine Bruck wrote:

> Have any of you, especially College and University archivists, had
> any experience with alumni asking for return of thesis or
> dissertation materials?  I'm not referring to providing them with
> copies of the the texts they wrote, and copyright ownership is not
> the issue here.  Rather, we have been asked for return of original
> unique materials which were created by the individual as part of
> his master's degree program requirment.  The item we have is
> signed by the faculty advisor and clearly identified as the
> project the student submitted for the degree requirement.

I've been dealing intimately with theses and dissertations for ten
years, and I've never heard of such things.  I don't actually receive
students' unbound manuscripts, but I'd have heard from the person who
does if such a request had been made.  A student should not be
including one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable items in his/her dissertation
if those materials are not intended to remain with the work.  The
dissertation and any associated materials are what the faculty judge
in deciding whether the candidate deserves the degree.  As such, they
become part of that person's official student record, so they should
be available for interested parties to look at -- whether or not the
dissertation becomes a book or article.

In short, if the degree requirements ask for some attached items,
those items should stay with the dissertation, unless (perhaps) the
candidate is willing to provide suitable surrogates (high quality copy
images?)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

James Stimpert                       ** PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING:
Archives (Arts and Sciences)         E-mail:    stimpert@jhu.edu
MSE Library
Johns Hopkins University             Voice:     (410) 516-8323
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD  21218                 Fax:       (410) 516-7202

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>