Six Steps Toward Improving Discoverability of Ph.D. Dissertations

Abstract

This study proposes six steps that scientific institutions should undertake to increase the visibility and accessibility of their dissertations; these steps were implemented in the digital library of the University of Novi Sad. An analysis was conducted thereafter to evaluate the success, and it was found that the six steps and associated strategies were successful, with 400,000 downloads having been performed since the digital library was operational. Although this study presents six steps for improving electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) discoverability in the digital library at the University of Novi Sad, these steps can easily be customized and implemented for ETD digital libraries at any scientific institution.