ETDs and NDLTD

Hussein Sulemanhussein@cs.uct.ac.za

University of Cape Town

May 2004

My ETD – the search

My ETD – the Web page

My ETD – the document

Overview Introduction to ETDs and NDLTD Aims and Objectives Why ETDs Policy Issues

Workflow Preservation IPR Dissemination

Technology Digital Library Software OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting ETDMS Union Archive and Catalogues

Introduction to ETDs and NDLTD Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) are

electronic analogues for the traditional paper output of post-graduate study.

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international non-profit organisation of institutions and consortia dedicated to the establishment and support of (ETD) programmes. http://www.ndltd.org

NDLTD/ETD Aims and Objectives Improve post-graduate education by increasing

access to electronic documents. Increase availability of student research. Lower cost of thesis/dissertation management. Empower students with publishing skills. Assist universities to archive their ETDs locally. Assist students to locate the ETDs they seek

online. Advance digital library technology in tertiary

education.

Why ETDs ETDs are simpler/better to deal with than

other electronic documents: High quality guaranteed for content Dedicated authors and editors Formal and persistent infrastructure exists i.e.,

tertiary institutions Many authors write theses before other publications Proven models for how to manage ETDs

ETDs are often called the “low-hanging fruit”

Policy: IPR Institutions/authors own their works and these

are archived at the institutions. Authors may specify whether to release works:

internationally, immediately internationally, after a period of time only locally not at all

Copyright because of journal publication is largely an unfounded concern – in 8 years, no publisher has complained!

Policy: Workflow Computer systems can control the flow of

documents from submission to review to dissemination.

Each institution determines its own workflow – there is no one-size-fits-all.

Workflow can be: traditional – paper-based mixed – allowing both or one of paper/electronic electronic-only

Policy: Preservation Document formats: most institutions currently

use PDF. Adobe is a major supporter of ETD efforts.

Some try XML, but this is not well supported and far from standardised.

Preservation policies must include (offsite/onsite) backup and migration of data and metadata.

Policy: Dissemination Who do we share the ETDs with?

Local community South African institutions International audience

How do we share? Open access website Contribute to South African repository efforts

(SABINET) Contribute to International Catalogue efforts

(NDLTD)

ETD Software Requirements Archiving of ETDs. User interface to locate and access documents

(Web-based). Administration interface to maintain archive. Ability for students to submit documents. Ability for university authorities to review and

accept submissions.

Issues beyond the Basics Preservation – does the software support long-term

maintenance of documents? Security – how can we be certain that the system

cannot be circumvented? Stability – will it die when we need it most at the end

of year/semester? Interoperability – will it connect into other systems

such as the library ILS or the NDLTD Union Catalog? Standards-compliance – what does it adhere to? Cost – does it? Hardware – what do we need to run the software? Support – how much staffing do we need to run it?

Software Options Use the ILS. Write your own software. Outsource management to a company or

consortium. Use an open source digital library (DL)

software package. ETDdb EPrints DSpace Greenstone

Advantages of OS DL Software Free! OAI compliance out-of-the-box. Tested by many others already. Community of use – active support. Closely tracks research and trends in

information management and Internet technology.

Mostly tailored especially for document submission/review/archiving.

Interoperability and OAI-PMH The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is dedicated

to solving problems of digital library interoperability by defining simple protocols, most recently for the exchange of metadata. Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (PMH) is a network

protocol to transfer metadata from a source archive to a destination archive.

Most OS DLs support OAI-PMH.

Most ETD archives around the world share their metadata using the OAI-PMH.

ETDMS Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Metadata

Set (ETDMS) is a metadata description format to capture information about an ETD.

ETDMS is used by NDLTD members to exchange descriptions of their documents.

Builds on Dublin Core by including fields specific to theses, such as “granting institution” and “title of degree”.

OAI-PMH in Practice Multiple independent university-based and

university-controlled collections of electronic documents.

Virginia Tech

Humboldt U.

U. South Florida

InternationalETD

Library

OAIOAIProtocol for Protocol for

MetadataMetadataHarvestingHarvesting

The Union Archive Collection of metadata records describing ETDs all

over the world. Maintained by OCLC – includes OCLC’s records. As OAI-PMH service provider, periodically harvests

metadata from all participating institutions. As OAI-PMH data provider, provides data to anyone

who wants it. Freely and publicly-accessible at:

http://alcme.oclc.org/ndltd/servlet/OAIHandler in about an hour you can get a full copy of all 112652 records

currently in the collection! (as of 19 may 2004)

The International Union Catalog

VTLS Virtua

Ultimately Make it easier for researchers to find TDs. Make it easier for students to publish TDs. Make it easier for institutions to manage TDs.

All by moving from TDs to ETDs.

More Information ETD Guide, published by UNESCO (http://etdguide.org)

Electronic Theses and Dissertations book (by Edward A. Fox, et al.)

What Next? Does your institution want to start an ETD

programme? Does your institution want to share

descriptions of its ETD holdings with the rest of the world?

Do we form one or more consortia? Do we set up national open access services?

Based on the international metadata archive? Based on local metadata?

How do we support new institutions that want to share metadata?

That’s all Folks!

direct all heckling and flames to:hussein@cs.uct.ac.za