Electronic Theses FAIR ProjectFinal Report.docx

1、Electronic Theses FAIR ProjectFinal ReportJISC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMESElectronic Theses FAIR ProjectFinal ReportChapter 1 ProjectProject AcronymProject IDProject TitleElectronic ThesesStart Date1st July 2002End Date30th September 2004Lead InstitutionThe Robert Gordon UniversityProject DirectorDr. Sus

2、an CopelandProject Manager & contact detailsDr. Susan CopelandThe Robert Gordon UniversityThe Georgina Scott Sutherland LibraryGarthdee Road Aberdeen, AB10 7QETel. 01224 263453e-mail s.copelandrgu.ac.ukPartner InstitutionsThe University of AberdeenCranfield UniversityThe University of London Library

3、The British Library(The University of Glasgow Workpackage 6b only)Project Web URLhttp:/www.rgu.ac.uk/library/e-theses.htmProgramme Name (and number)FAIR ProgrammeProgramme ManagerRachel Bruce / Balviar NotayChapter 2 DocumentDocument TitleFinal ReportReporting PeriodAuthor(s) & project roleDr. Susan

4、 Copeland: Project ManagerAndrew Penman: Research AssistantRichard Milne: E-Services LibrarianDate31.01.05FilenameRGU_Final_Report.docURLAccess Project and JISC internal General dissemination Electronic Theses Project1st July 2002 30th September 2004Final ReportDr. Susan CopelandProject ManagerAndre

5、w PenmanResearch AssistantRichard MilneE-Services LibrarianTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsExecutive Summary1. Background 61.1. Early Developments in the UK 61.2. The International Context 62. Aims and Objectives 72.1. Phase 1 Aims and Objectives 72.2. Phase 2 Aims and Objectives 73. Methodology 93

6、.1. Overall Approach 93.2. Description of Methodology 94. Implementation 114.1. Questionnaire 114.2. Software Evaluation 114.3. Metadata Selection 134.4. Project Website 135. Output and Results 145.1. Technical 145.1.1. Infrastructure 155.1.2. Software 155.1.3. Metadata 165.2. Legal and Administrati

7、ve 165.3. Cultural 175.4. Dissemination 186. Outcomes 206.1. Value 206.2. Impact 216.3. Transferable Aspects 217. Conclusions 228. Implications 229. Recommendations 2310. References 2411. Appendices 25A. Glossary 25B. UK Metadata Core-set 26C. Conferences and Publications 28AcknowledgementsThe Elect

8、ronic Theses project was funded by The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and was undertaken as part of the Focus on Access to Institutional Resources (FAIR) Programme.The project was led by a team at The Robert Gordon University comprising Dr. Susan Copeland (Project Manager), Andrew Penman

9、 (Research Assistant) and Richard Milne (E-Services Librarian).Thanks are due to the representatives from the four original partner institutions, and from the team at the University of Glasgow who joined the project for Phase 2, for their input and achievements. Thanks are also due to the Theses ali

10、ve! project team at the University of Edinburgh for their collaboration and willingness to share expertise. Assistance and encouragement from the following individuals was particularly appreciated:Anthony Troman and Heather Porter (The British Library)Christopher Pressler and Emma Robinson (The Univ

11、ersity of London Library)Simon Bevan (Cranfield University)Sheona Farquhar and Christine Miller (The University of Aberdeen)William Nixon and Morag Greig (ne Mackie) (The University of Glasgow)John MacColl, Dr. Theo Andrew and Richard Jones (The University of Edinburgh)Support from JISC proved inval

12、uable and the opportunity to learn from other project teams at joint Programme events ensured that duplication of effort was kept to a minimum and project outputs were used to maximum effect.Feedback on the use of DSpace software as the basis for an electronic theses collection/institutional reposit

13、ory through the organisation of focus groups by Professor Dorothy Williams, Dr. Simon Burnett and Linda Webster at Aberdeen Business School provided a useful evaluation of this aspect of the project output. Feedback from the representatives of Higher Education institutions and national organisations

14、 who attended the Electronic Theses seminars at Senate House in January 2004 and The British Library in September 2004 also proved useful. The project team is grateful to members of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) who have provided support and encouragement, as well

15、 as practical advice, from their own experiences of introducing the concept of electronic theses and dissertations. Executive SummaryThe Electronic Theses Project was funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) as part of the Focus on Access to Institutional Resources (FAIR) Programme.

16、The project was led by The Robert Gordon University and supported by members of the project consortium: The British Library, The University of Aberdeen, Cranfield University, and The University of London Library.Phase 1 of the project, which took place from July 2002 to July 2004, aimed “to evaluate

17、 a wide range of existing practices and methods of e-theses production, management and use against a set of criteria in order to produce recommended models for use within the UK information environment”. Phase 2 of the project, which took place from October 2003 to September 2004 and involved repres

18、entatives from the Daedalus project at The University of Glasgow, aimed to test many of the theoretical findings of the project in a working environment. Full details of the projects aims and objectives are available on the project website at http:/www.rgu.ac.uk/library/e-theses.htmThe project team

19、made use of the work relating to e-theses that had been undertaken already in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and Germany (and publicised by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations). Examples of best practice were identified and selected models were evaluated with a vi

20、ew to adopting or adapting them for use within the UK information environment. Other developments of potential relevance, such as the emergence of new software, were also monitored.Following an evaluation of various pieces of software (based on the criteria of availability, sustainability, interoper

21、ability and suitability), DSpace and EPrints were recommended for use when establishing an e-theses collection. After considerable debate, the project team reached agreement on a standard set of metadata elements which are of key importance when describing the content of e-theses repositories. (This

22、 metadata core-set can be viewed on the project website).The project website contains information on a range of aspects relating to the production of e-theses and the creation of an e-theses collection. Recommendations are made regarding the approach that could be taken towards advocacy work, detail

23、s are provided about how university regulations may have to be changed to accommodate e-theses, and a sample thesis submission form is available. A sample workflow diagram highlights the stages involved in the process from the submission of an e-thesis to the examination of the work. The project tea

24、m recommended that, where possible, individual H.E. institutions should create their own e-theses collections (as part of, or in parallel with, an open access institutional repository that also contains e-prints and other research output). The project also recommended the establishment of a national

25、 e-theses collection maintained by The British Library (which would meet a range of needs at national level, including issues relating to preservation).1. Background1.1 Early Developments in the UKIn recent years, access to abstracts, journal articles, conference proceedings and book chapters in ele

26、ctronic format have become commonplace. Researchers have come to expect simple, speedy access to a wide range of information from any location at any time. Expectations relating to the production and use of theses and dissertations have proved no exception to the rule. In the UK, microfilm or paper

27、copies of most recent doctoral theses are currently available through the British Librarys British Thesis Service or from individual Higher Education institutions. However, for some time it has been recognised that the availability of digital full text theses could improve this situation significant

28、ly. In the mid 1990s, the University Theses Online Group (UTOG) was established with a view to encouraging such developments. The findings of a UTOG survey1 (funded by The British Library and JISC) confirmed that developments in this area should be pursued and in 2001, on behalf of UTOG, Edinburgh U

29、niversity Library completed an e-theses pilot project. The work undertaken by UTOG suggested that, in future years, an increasing number of individuals might choose to make their theses available electronically, via the web, but that, without some degree of guidance, future developments could be fra

30、gmented and an opportunity to create a national framework could be lost.1.2 The International ContextA significant number of universities in other countries have made doctoral and masters level theses available in digital format, and organisations such as the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State

31、 University (Virginia Tech.) have seen usage levels rise dramatically as a result2. As universities increasingly operate at global level, it is becoming more important for the research output of UK institutions, and the work of individual UK scholars, to be publicised and made accessible internation

32、ally. 24/7 access to PhD theses produced in the UK would make a major contribution towards this goal. Some individual universities, the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)3 and UNESCO4 have produced guidelines and web pages containing advice about Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), but there is a considerable amount of variation b