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14th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD-2011)
13-17 Sept. 2011, Cape Town, South Africa
Daniel Gelaw Alemneh and
Mark Edward Phillips
-General Background
-Libraries Role
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The University of North Texas (UNT) began accepting theses and dissertations in
electronic format in 1999.
◦ UNT is one of the early adopters of what was to become the ETD movement in higher education
◦ One of the first three American universities to require ETDs for graduation.
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The UNT Libraries play an active role in facilitating access to UNT’s ETDs ◦ In 2007 the Digital Projects Unit took on a
stewardship role
Develop appropriate Metadata
Integrate Value added services into the ETDs
◦ In 2010 we started retrospective conversion projects:
Digital retro-conversion (in-house project) for pre-1999 theses and dissertations previously available only in paper or microform.
Digital retro-conversion for ETDs (1999 to 2009) previously available only in PDF file format.
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-UNT ETDs Size
-By Access Level
-By Degree Level
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1. Public: - These ETDs are open or there are no restrictions on these resources.
2. Restricted:- ◦ 2.1 UNT-Community:-
These ETDs are restricted to users associated with UNT.
Users are normally required to log in using their EUID if they are located outside the UNT campus.
The restricted ETDs after 2007 have a delay (2-5 years) and then they will be moved to "Public"
◦ 2.2 UNT-Strict:- These ETDs are restricted to the UNT Community.
This will be strictly enforced and users are always required to log in using their EUIDs, regardless of their location.
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51%
49%
UNT ETDs Size By Degree Level
Doctoral Master's
62%
38%
UNT ETDs Use By Degree Level
Doctoral Master's
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-Overview -Magick Numbering -Multiple Data Formats -Submission Information Package (SIP)
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In the context of the UNT ETDs, data desiccation first involves converting the deposited PDF into a series of image files that serve as the primary access point to
the documents online.
◦ High quality JPEG images as the image format
◦ Magick numbering involves two running sequences of numbers (an eight digit filename).
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Sequence Pagination Filename
1 Title Page 000100tp.jpg
2 Copyright page 00020000.jpg
3 Abstract 00030000.jpg
4 ii 000400ii.jpg
5 iii 00050iii.jpg
6 iv 000600iv.jpg
7 1 00070001.jpg
8 2 00080002.jpg
9 3 00090003.jpg
… … …
Table 1. Magick Numbering
PDF ◦ Originally deposited version
JPGs ◦ A series of derivatives converted from the
original pdf:
jpg:- (serve as the primary access point to the documents online)
pro:- (the proprietary format from the PrimeOCR engine)
xml:- (a UNT-specific word bounding box file)
txt:- (ASCII text file converted from Pro format).
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-Multiple Formats Access Strategy
-Access by Degree Level
-Access by Country
-Access via Mobile Devices
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In addition to the originally deposited PDF format, the data desiccation process provides and facilitates additional methods of access by: ◦ exposing the page level OCR text to an increasing number of
search engines
◦ allowing page turning interfaces or other interfaces designed for emerging mobile devices
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Longitudinal data will be collected to see
if desiccated ETDs receive more use than
the older, single-format PDF versions.
◦ We are already witnessing an overall
increase in access to the ETDs in the UNT
Digital Library.
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0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000
Doctor of Education,
Doctor of Musical Arts,
Doctor of Philosophy,
Master of Arts,
Master of Fine Arts,
Master of Journalism,
Master of Music,
Master of Public Administration,
Master of Science,
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References
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Given the pressure of reading more in less time, today’s users demand access to various formats regardless of temporal and spatial restrictions and the types of devices used.
Based on the data, users: ◦ -Increasingly use Mobile devices
◦ -Come from different countries (with varied bandwidth)
◦ -View one or a few pages
◦ -Visit just once
Understanding user communities, their information needs, and their use behavior will help to move contents into the users’ space and facilitate access and use of ETDs.
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The successful management of ETDs requires multifaceted effort across the entire life-cycle to ensure that ETDs are managed, preserved, & made accessible in a manner that today’s users expect.
Over the past year, the UNT Libraries have put forth great effort in making digital collections more accessible and useful in research processes.
Data desiccation or providing multiple options certainly facilitates both enhanced and long-term access to the contents of ETDs!
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- The University of North Texas (UNT) ETD-Progress: http://www.library.unt.edu/digitalprojects/procedures/etd/etd-progress - UNT Metadata: http://www.library.unt.edu/digitalprojects/metadata
- UNT Theses and Dissertations:
http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTETD/browse/
