Electronic Theses And Dissertations Research Articles

KrishiKosh: an institutional repository of National Agricultural Research System in India

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide online access to valuable resource, i.e., rare books, institutional publications, historical reports, theses, success stories, etc. to the researchers, teachers, extension specialists, farmers and scientists working in the ICAR institutes and state agricultural universities. Design/methodology/approach – Using open source software, the material in the repository was organized into institution-wise collection of documents such as books, journals, theses, reports, articles, etc. The process of digitization including scanning, cleaning, cropping, conversion to text (OCR), conversion to PDF/A, is currently being done at four different centres. So far, more than ten million pages from 19,495 documents have been digitized along with the necessary metadata. Findings – The “KrishiKosh” is a collaborative project which envisages launching an Indian agricultural knowledge portal over the internet and sharing its research information including Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) with the rest of the world using latest information and communication technologies. Research limitations/implications – Users are able to access any information they want, from anywhere in the world, and at any time over the internet. It also culminated in launching of an Indian agricultural knowledge portal over the internet for sharing its research information including ETD with the rest of the world using the latest information and communication technologies. Practical implications – The agricultural research community will have access to the vast amount of rare and precious literature to further research and developments in agriculture and allied sectors to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. Social implications – While the population of the country is heading towards 1.23 billion, Indian agricultural scientists are engaged in increasing the food grain production to address the food security challenge. The importance of agricultural production in the context of global competition has occupied a significant place in the national development plan. It helps to provide right information, in right time at right place to increase the agriculture production. Originality/value – The Indian agricultural knowledge portal over the internet for sharing its research information including ETD among agriculture policy makers, scientists, etc. using latest ICT. The portal helps to avoid duplication and to acquire more resources to the agriculture knowledge centres.

Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) in India: a comparative study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to know the institutions who are developing electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) in India, and to compare the ETDs in India based on a predetermined parameter. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used for this research paper was a descriptive method. The institutional web sites were browsed and searched to collect the data. A relevant literature review was also carried out to describe the current status and other relevant information. Findings – Institutional repositories are a concept gaining movement today. India is moving ahead in this direction and major education and research institutes have already created their own institutional repositories. In analysis and findings, a detailed report of the analysis of data collection and its subsequent interpretations are given. Practical implications – If anybody would like to develop ETDs they can this overview of all the previous developed ETDs in India. It will be helpful for planning, developing and implementing new ETDs. Originality/value – This type of research study has not made till now. It is very important to study current and different types of ETD projects in India and its status. The study of special subject repositories is important for the students, scholars and researchers as well as for the LIS professionals.

Introducing name authority into an ETD collection

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate a workflow for establishing name authority in uncontrolled collections. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed a workflow incorporating command-line tools and tested it in the electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) collection. The authors narrowed the scope of the study to born-digital ETDs in the collection and to contributor names, including chairs and committee members. Findings – This workflow can save staff time and allows for flexible implementation depending on staff numbers and skills as well as institutional needs. Originality/value – This workflow could be used by other institutions with little or no modification, as it does not rely on specialized software or extensive expertise.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations in CRIS

Electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) represent a significant part of academic publications. They contain valuable information about academic research, in particular on research projects, institutions and experts. This information can be useful for the management of expertise and skills of persons and organisations in the current research information systems (CRIS). The paper provides an overview on projects and initiatives linking ETD and CRIS infrastructures, with empirical insight from existing systems in Slovakia, Iran and France. The paper reviews also the way the Common European Research Information Format (CERIF) integrates the specific information related to ETD (results, links, second level elements, semantics…). The discussion puts the focus on metadata, interoperability and complementary material (data). The findings allow for the framing of some recommendations on the integration of ETD in CRIS.

Theses Online at Jawaharlal Nehru University an Initiative: The Problem and Prospect

Through this paper author discuss various agendas, issues and strategic plan that Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University has undertaken during the digitisation of theses collections and implementation of the electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) repository at JNU. Also, the paper broadly discuss the old practices, the problem, and the current practices of work flow plan at JNU for proper structuring of the theses collection, organisation, archive and access; and state how it would help university to effectively serve their end user communities and increase the value of scholarship and quality of research.

A Citation Analysis of ETD and Non-ETD Producing Authors

This work takes advantage of the current status of the development of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) at the University of Louisville to reexamine a previous study that compared ETD and non-ETD producing authors' use of the professional literature. As with the previous study, this effort found no noticeable difference in the two groups of doctoral students' referencing behavior. This review of 100 dissertations and their 13,926 references confirmed the previous work's conclusions that doctoral students' publication format is not reflective of their library research. These findings suggest that librarians need not amend their efforts in response to academia's on-going development of ETDs and that differences between ETD and non-ETD authors are unrelated to their utilization of library resources.

Electronic theses and dissertations in Nigeria university libraries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the current status of electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) projects in Nigerian university libraries.Design/methodology/approachA survey research methodology was applied. A total of 125 questionnaires were distributed to librarians in eight government‐funded universities in South Eastern Nigeria.FindingsOnly three out of the eight universities surveyed have started ETD projects in their libraries. Other universities have the intention of adopting ETD but very little has been done towards this. The study also revealed that university libraries in Nigeria stand to benefit immensely from ETD projects. Some of these benefits as revealed from the findings include enhancing scholarly communication in Nigeria, promoting the global visibility of Nigerian universities, and enhancing research dissemination. The results of the study also revealed some challenges of ETD in Nigeria. Strategies to mitigate these challenges were also identified from the findings.Practical implicationsThe paper establishes that the adoption of ETD in Nigerian university libraries is very low. Nigerian universities must therefore adopt a pragmatic approach to develop an ETD program that will facilitate the dissemination of research documented in theses and dissertations.Originality/valueThe originality of the work lies in the empirical evidence obtained from the eight university libraries surveyed.

Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Social Sciences and Humanities? Findings from a 2011 Survey of Academic Publishers

An increasing number of higher education institutions worldwide are requiring submission of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) by graduate students and are subsequently providing open access to these works in online repositories. Faculty advisors and graduate students are concerned that such unfettered access to their work could diminish future publishing opportunities. This study investigated social sciences, arts, and humanities journal editors’ and university press directors’ attitudes toward ETDs. The findings indicate that manuscripts that are revisions of openly accessible ETDs are always welcome for submission or considered on a case-by-case basis by 82.8 percent of journal editors and 53.7 percent of university press directors polled.

ANRT Lille: the French national centre for the reproduction of PhD theses

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the ANRT, its purpose and activity in the French national network for the dissemination and preservation of PhD theses.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a historical study and an evaluation of current activities and future perspectives.FindingsThe ANRT has played a significant role in the back‐office of the French network for the dissemination and preservation of PhD theses for over 40 years. Its online catalogue contains more than 200,000 PhD theses that academic or other research institutions can order in print format or on microfiche. Complementary to this national mandate, the ANRT runs a print‐on‐demand service for more than 7,200 PhD theses called “Thèses à la carte”. Today, the development of electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) and open access is challenging the future of the ANRT.Originality/valueThe ANRT Lille is one of those institutions that are more or less unknown to the wider public and even to LIS professionals. This paper presents it for the first time to a larger and international readership.

Evaluation of interoperability protocols in repositories of electronic theses and dissertations

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to evaluate the status of eight interoperability protocols within repositories of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) as an introduction to further studies on feasibility of deploying these protocols in upcoming areas of interoperability.Design/methodology/approach – Three surveys of 266 ETD repositories, 15 common ETD management software solutions, and 136 ETD experts were conducted in order to appraise the protocols. These protocols were evaluated in four categories of aggregation, syndication, distributed search, and publishing protocols.Findings – This study revealed that, despite its drawbacks, Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (PMH) is still the most utilized interoperability protocol within ETD providers, ETD software developers, and implementers, followed by ATOM and Object Reuse and Exchange (ORE) protocols. However, in all competitive areas related to performance and functionality, ORE surpasses other protocols. It was also found that the three protoc...

소셜 컴퓨팅을 위한 연구·학습 주제의 계층적 지식기반 구축

본 논문은 연구 학습 주제 지식베이스를 통한 소셜컴퓨팅 지원에 관한 연구로 두 가지 하부 연구로 구성되었다. 첫 번째 연구는 다양한 학문분야에서 전자 도서관 이용자들의 연구 및 학습 주제를 추출하기 위해 분야별로 분류가 잘 되어 있는 NDLTD Union catalog의 석박사 학위 논문 (Electronic Theses and Dissertations : ETDs)을 분석하여 계층적 지식베이스를 구축하는 연구이다. 석박사 학위 논문 이외에 ACM Transactions 저널의 논문과 컴퓨터 분야 국제 학술대회 웹사이트도 추가로 분석하였는데 이는 컴퓨팅 분야의 보다 세분화된 지식베이스를 얻기 위해서이다. 계층적 지식베이스는 개인화 서비스, 추천시스템, 텍스트 마이닝, 기술기회탐색, 정보 가시화 등의 정보서비스와 소셜컴퓨팅에 유용하게 사용될 수 있다. 본 논문의 두 번째 연구 부분에서는 우리가 만든 계층적 지식기반을 활용하여 4개의 사용자 커뮤니티 마이닝 알고리즘 중에서 우리가 수행중인 소셜 컴퓨팅 연구, 즉 구성원간의 결합도에 기반한 추천시스템에 최상의 성능을 보이는 그룹핑 알고리즘을 찾는 성능 평가 연구 결과를 제시하였다. 우리는 이 논문을 통해서 우리가 제안하는 연구 학습 주제 데이터베이스를 사용하는 방법이 기존에 사용자 커뮤니티 마이닝을 위해 사용되던 비용이 많이 필요하고, 느리며, 개인정보 침해의 위험이 있는 인터뷰나 설문에 기반한 방법을 자동화되고, 비용이 적게 들고, 빠르고, 개인정보 침해 위험이 없으며, 반복 수행시에도 일관된 결과를 보여주는 방법으로 대체할 수 있음을 보이고자 한다. This paper consists of two parts: In the first part, we describe our work to build hierarchical knowledge base of digital library patron's research interests and learning topics in various scholarly areas through analyzing well classified Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) of NDLTD Union catalog. Journal articles from ACM Transactions and conference web sites of computing areas also are added in the analysis to specialize computing fields. This hierarchical knowledge base would be a useful tool for many social computing and information service applications, such as personalization, recommender system, text mining, technology opportunity mining, information visualization, and so on. In the second part, we compare four grouping algorithms to select best one for our data mining researches by testing each one with the hierarchical knowledge base we described in the first part. From these two studies, we intent to show traditional verification methods for social community miming researches, based on interviewing and answering questionnaires, which are expensive, slow, and privacy threatening, can be replaced with systematic, consistent, fast, and privacy protecting methods by using our suggested hierarchical knowledge base.

Past and Present Scenario of Open Access Movement in India

This paper gives an overview of open archives developed during the period of 2004–2012 in India including institutional, subject, cross repositories, etc. It also depicts the actions taken by the Indian government in response to the OA developments. The paper highlights that there are one cross institutional repository, three cross institutional electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) repositories, three subject repositories, five institutional ETD repositories, and twenty-five functional institutional repositories registered in the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR). It also gives an account of the National Knowledge Commission of India which has proposed a model to continue and expand the number of research papers being put in Open Access by establishing a specific fund for Open Access research. The paper provides the background to, and contemporary issues in, the development of open archives in India. It sum ups with the latest developments initiated by the Indian government, corporate organizations, etc. towards the success of the Open Access movement.

Uniqueness Matters: Author-Supplied Keywords and LCSH in the Library Catalog

This study concerns the overlap between author-supplied keywords and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) bibliographic records in the library catalog. The article provides a discussion on uniqueness, matching, and complementariness based on a replication of Strader's methodology and rubric from a 2009 article. Findings support most of Strader's conclusions, including the complementary nature of keywords and controlled vocabularies. Both keywords and LCSH provide unique terms that enhance access. Researchers also broke new ground regarding partial matching, particularly within LCSH. The fact that uniqueness matters has implications for the continued use of LCSH, for LCSH maintenance, and for further research.

The Continuing Cautionary Tale of Creative Writing ETDs

Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) often spark debate regarding restrictions on access and students’ opportunities for later publication. Most other studies have found publishers are in fact willing to work with submissions based on open access ETDs, but these studies have been conducted broadly on scholarly journals across a variety of disciplines rather than focusing specifically on creative writing. Librarians from East Carolina University identified a group of creative writing publishers and surveyed them to determine their attitudes towards manuscript submissions from ETDs, embargoes, and restrictions on access. Survey respondents by and large view open access ETDs as prior publications, although many were still willing to work with authors on an individual basis. The authors discuss the continued importance of offering creative writers options for restricted access and/or embargoes while publishers and creative writers work out the place of ETDs in the publishing chain.

Knowledge management and open access e‐theses: Indian initiatives

PurposeThis paper aims to describe recent developments in the services provided by Indian electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) repositories. It seeks to explore the prospect of knowledge formation and diffusion in India and to discuss the potential of open access e‐theses repositories for knowledge management.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on literature review and content analysis of Indian ETD repository websites. Institutional repositories and electronic thesis and dissertation projects in India were identified through a literature survey as well as internet searching and browsing. The study examines the tools, type of contents, coverage and aims of Indian ETD repositories.FindingsThe paper acknowledges the need for knowledge management for national development. It highlights the significance of an integrated platform for preserving, searching and retrieving Indian theses. It describes the features and functions of Indian ETD repositories.Originality/valueThe paper provides insights into the characteristics of the national repository of ETDs of India, which encourage and support open access to publicly‐funded research.

Nurse scholars' knowledge and use of electronic theses and dissertations

Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) are a valuable resource for nurse scholars worldwide. ETDs and digital libraries offer the potential to radically change the nature and scope of the way in which doctoral research results are presented, disseminated and used. An exploratory study was undertaken to better understand ETD usage and to address areas where there is a need and an opportunity for educational enhancement. The primary objective was to gain an initial understanding of the knowledge and use of ETDs and digital libraries by faculty, graduate students and alumni of graduate programs at schools of nursing. A descriptive online survey design was used. Purposeful sampling of specific schools of nursing was used to identify institutional participants in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. A total of 209 participants completed the online questionnaire. Only 44% of participants reported knowing how to access ETDs in their institutions' digital libraries and only 18% reported knowing how to do so through a national or international digital library. Only 27% had cited an ETD in a publication. The underuse of ETDs was found to be attributable to specific issues rather than general reluctance to use online resources. This is the first international study that has explored awareness and use of ETDs, and ETD digital libraries, with a focus on nursing and has set the stage for future research and development in this field. Results show that most nursing scholars do not use ETDs to their fullest potential.

Notes on Operations

This paper discusses the extension of the Current Research Information System (CRIS) at the University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia, to incorporate electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). Data describing ETDs is entered using a web application that enables researchers to input their own data through a webpage without knowing the standards on which the system is based. The ETDs repository can exchange data with CRIS institutional repositories and Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations members. In this way, the international visibility of theses and dissertations created at the University of Novi Sad is enhanced without duplicating data entry in various systems. This approach has been verified and tested on a dataset of theses and dissertations at the University of Novi Sad.

What are universities doing here? Migrating traditional dissertations into ETDs in Iran

PurposeMany universities and libraries throughout the world are now making digitized versions of traditional (print) dissertations available online. Some of these institutions have even gone so far as to completely eliminate printed copies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) in Iran and elsewhere.Design/methodology/approachThe paper notes that many theses and dissertations are now sitting on shelves, unread, in our libraries. Electronic publication can make these works accessible to students, researchers, and others who perhaps lack time, search capabilities, or finances. The paper looks at what universities are doing about the problem, and summarizes the current position in Iran university libraries.FindingsA growing realization has emerged among those working on ETDs in Iran that it is critically important that libraries remain not just involved, but centrally positioned in the development of the national information infrastructure.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that the future of E‐theses and of archiving and searching in general depends on institutions being able to deliver top quality services, with a high degree of interoperability. This means, among other things, that systems must continue to be developed and they must be able to handle many different types of digital objects.Originality/valueThe paper claims that as we prepare students for scholarship in the twenty‐first century, Iran 1400, for example, it is imperative that librarians consider how to manage these important new forms of writing.

A Practice and Value Proposal for Doctoral Dissertation Data Curation

The preparation and publication of dissertations can be viewed as a subsystem of scholarly communication, and the treatment of data that support doctoral research can be mapped in a very controlled manner to the data curation lifecycle. Dissertation datasets represent “low-hanging fruit” for universities who are developing institutional data collections. The current workflow for processing electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) at a typical American university is presented, and a new practice is proposed that includes datasets in the process of formulating, awarding, and disseminating dissertations in a way that enables them to be linked and curated together. The value proposition and new roles for the university and its student-authors, faculty, graduate programs and librarians are explored.

Who's Doing What? Findability and Author-Supplied ETD Metadata in the Library Catalog

Kent State University Libraries’ electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) cataloging process features contributions by authors, by the ETDcat application, and by catalogers. Who is doing what, and how much of it is findable in the library catalog? An empirical analysis is performed featuring simple frequencies within the KentLINK catalog, articulated by the use of a newly devised rubric. The researchers sought the degree to which the ETD authors, the applications, and the catalogers can supply accurate, findable metadata. Further development of combinatory cataloging processes is suggested. The method of examining the data and the rubric are provided as a framework for other metadata analysis.