AIMS
The aim of the proposal is to establish a distributed database of digital versions of theses produced by the postgraduate research students at the participating institutions. The theses will be available via the web.
There are seven institutions collaborating in the project:
- University of New South Wales (lead institution)
- University of Melbourne
- University of Queensland
- University of Sydney
- Australian National University
- Curtin University of Technology
- Griffith University
BACKGROUND
Approximately 4,000 degrees are awarded each year in Australia with about half of these coming from the 7 participating institutions. Postgraduate theses represent a significant proportion of Australia's research activity. However, lack of easy access to this information means other researchers can wait months or years before papers or books describing aspects of the research are published. These publications do not always comprehensively cover the valuable information in a thesis; information which in many cases is then effectively lost.
Theses are an underutilised information resource. A thesis by its very nature is produced in very limited quantities and normally the only copy available is the archival copy deposited in the Library. It is estimated that copies of fewer than 1,500 per year are requested from the participating libraries, even fewer are supplied as the cost and delay factors are a significant deterrent.
The lack of usage is attributed to a number of factors:
- lack of knowledge that the thesis exists
- lack of information about the contents of the thesis
- lack of ready availability
Increasingly, students are using wordprocessing and desktop publishing and graphics software to produce their theses. These tools also provide them with the opportunity to include multimedia components. However, use of these technologies is limited by the requirements for theses to be submitted in paper format. By changing the procedures for creating and submitting theses, the deposit of theses can be made more efficient and less costly to the student in terms of cost of making multiple paperbound copies. Many examiners would prefer to evaluate an electronic copy but there would still be the option to print copies as required from the electronic version. Importantly, theses will be readily accessible to all interested, worldwide. Some students are already putting their theses up on the web.
A current major US initiative is the development of a Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). The project which is led by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University involves a growing number of US universities, University Microfilms International and industry partners. As a result of this work, standards for creation, deposit, conversion, storage, archiving and printing have already been established.
The focus of the NDLTD has shifted from a US based one to a growing international network of universities including the University of New South Wales. Its aim is to improve graduate education, increase sharing of knowledge, help universities build their information infrastructure, and extend the value of digital libraries.
Use of the same standards by Australian universities would ensure compatibility with the US and other digital thesis collections.
PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE
The pilot project is designed to improve access to, and enhance transfer of, the research information contained in theses by providing a full text version available from the desktop via the web. The retrieval will be enhanced by the inclusion of metadata tags in the documents which are given a higher weighting by the more sophisticated search engines.
It is also designed to provide a new model for deposit and archiving of theses that takes into account the tools and technologies that students are now using to prepare their theses.
PROJECT PLAN
The project plan has two major components, digitisation of a selected number of frequently requested existing theses and digitisation of theses as part of the deposit process. As each University is responsible for maintaining an archival copy of the theses of their own institution, each partner in the project will mount their own theses on a server located in their respective institution. The partners will use the same database configuration, standards and metadata system to ensure compatibility.
In line with the Virginia Tech project, documents will be held in the database in both SGML (Standard Generalised Markup Language) and Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) to facilitate print output and migration. SGML ensures that the data is independent of the platform on which it is created and has the most powerful hypermedia encoding technology currently available. Adobe PDF ensures that a high quality printed version can be provided if needed. Both SGML and Adobe PDF are freely available and have become electronic publishing standards.
The project team will have a representative from each of the participating universities with the University of New South Wales coordinating the project.
The project will be carried out during 1998/99.
