The NDLTD and a History of ETDs

The NDLTD and a History of ETDs

Gail McMillanDirector, Digital Library and Archives,

Virginia Tech

OETDA, March 28, 2008

The NDLTD

Since its inception in 1996, the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations has worked to improve graduate education, increase the availability of student research, empower students and universities, advance digital library technology, and lower the costs of submitting and handling electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

NDLTD Mission: Improve Graduate Education Produce ETDs, use digital libraries,

understand issues in publishing Increase availability of student research Lower the cost of processing TDs Empower students to convey a richer message Empower universities to unlock information

resources Advance digital library technology

The Beginning of the NDLTD1987 openly discussed ETDs at UMI meeting1991 VT ETD initiative1995 VT Graduate School invites Library to

participate1996 Library brings the players together, creates

web site, drafts workflow software1997 VT requires ETDs

NDLTD: from National to Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations

Hosted or Visited for ETD Support Onsite at: Arizona State University, Southern, Brigham

Young, Case Western Reserve, College of William and Mary, Cornell, Georgia, Michigan Tech, Pennsylvania State, Worchester Polytechnic, University of Florida, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of South Carolina, Vanderbilt, ACRL, ALA, CNI, CAUSE, JISC, OCLC, RBMS, SAA...

Hosted: Clemson, Mississippi State, Naval Post Graduate School, Rhodes University (South Africa), SUNY Buffalo, University of New Brunswick, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Military Institute, Wake Forest…

NDLTD Conferences 2009: University of Pittsburgh/West Virginia University 2008, June 4-7: Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland 2008: OETDA, Columbus, Ohio 2007: Uppsala University, Sweden 2006 Oct. 27-28:University of Missouri-St. Louis (US regional conference) 2006: Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval, Quebec, Canada 2005: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 2004: University of Kentucky, Lexington 2003: Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany 2002: Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 2001: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 2000: University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 1999: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg 1998: MECCA - ITEC Conference, Tennessee

NDLTD Funding Grants

SURA: 1994: $30,000; 1996: $91,117 FIPSE, 9/96-8/99: $208,040

Contributions Adobe: donation of software to the first 20 universities

engaged in pilot testing. Support

CNI VTLS

Conference fees support conferences

NDLTD Funding: SURA1993 SURA and SOLINET support Monticello Electronic Library Project. Fox, and Eustis and McMillan attend Atlanta meeting separately.1994 SURA funds VT workshop to develop plans for ETDs. Attendees select PDF and SGML for representation and archiving. 1996 SURA funds VT implementation, research, development, and dissemination of ETD experience, or develop and disseminate a standard method for making graduate students' final work available online.

NDLTD Funding: SURA

Grant calls for Fox, Eaton, McMillan to

Develop a system "that people can use" Implement library and user friendly search and

delivery technology, plus programmatic archiving

Document and distribute training materials for this approach for other universities in the Southeast.

NDLTD Goals (early) Graduate students

learn about e-publishing and digital libraries, applying that knowledge as they engage in their research and build and submit their ETDs

education improves through more effective sharing Universities

learn about digital libraries, as they collect, catalog, archive, and make ETDs accessible

learn how to unlock the potential of their intellectual property/products

Technology and knowledge sharing speed up as graduate research results become more readily available

NDLTD Funding: FIPSE

Although there are approximately 400,000 master's or doctoral degrees awarded nationally each year, many students are poorly prepared for a career in which electronic publishing and access to networked information systems willbe commonplace. Fox 9/96

NDLTD Membership: 1997-2003

To join send letter of interest from the institution expressing interest in ETDS and NDLTD

No obligations Non-voting 122 US/international universities 16 US/international institutions 3 consortia

NDTLD Governance: 1997-2003 Informal, voluntary, advisory Director: Ed Fox, VT professor of computer science Steering Committee

~30 members, met twice a year International organizations National libraries Publishers Technology companies Consortia Higher education institutions

Working groups

NDLTD: 501(c)(3)

In order to better serve its membership, in May 2003 the NDTLD was duly formed as a nonstock corporation for worldwide charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of US the Internal Revenue Code. NDLTD is now headed by a Board of Directors, working with members on various committees to further the aims of the organization.

NDLTD Committees Conference Planning Services and Standards Awards (Adobe and NDLTD)

Innovative ETD Innovating Learning through ETDs Leadership

Development (w/international subcommittees) Implementation Public Relations Governance: Executive, Finance, Nominating, Membership ETD Guide: U of So. Florida, UNESCO Union Catalog of ETDS: VTLS

http://www.ndltd.org/awards/awardscall2008.en.html

http://www.etdguide.org/

NDTLD Committees 2008 Awards, Chair: John Hagen Conferences, Chair: Sharon Reeves Development, Co-chairs: Suzie Allard, John Hagen Executive, Chair: Edward Fox Finance, Chair: Austin McLean Implementation, Chair: John Hagen Membership, Chair: Eric Van de Velde Nominating, Chair: Joan Lippincott Public Relations, Chair: Suzie Allard Services and Standards, Co-chairs: Thomas B. Hickey, Ana

Pavani

Benefits of NDLTD Membership Eligible to be aided by a Mentoring Program Discounts on exhibits/displays at the Annual

Conference Discounts on conference registration fees Support for harvesting into the Union Catalog Eligibility for NDLTD awards May serve on Committees and Board of Directors Access to member address (when shared) Join ETD-L: Send mail to [email protected].

NDLTD Membership Fee Structurehttp://www.ndltd.org/join.en.html

$25: Individuals $100-$300: Single degree-granting or

supporting institution Consortium or Multicampus University

System: $200-$2,600: Category II-III (up to 50) $600-$7,800: Category I (up to 50)

NDLTD’s Key Constituencies Faculty--not, but Fox/VT, Moxley/USF, Pavani/PUC-

Rio, etc. Students--not, but Allard/UKy, Edminster/USF Graduate school administrators--not, but Eaton/VT,

Clark/OH Organizations

International: OAS, UNESCO, World Bank, national libraries

US: CNI, ARL; not CGS Librarians: grow information resources, services Companies--Adobe, OCLC, UMI/ProQuest

NDLTD and Preservation of ETDs

Primary concern for early initiatives Paper seen as more enduring MetaArchive survey 2008

75% no formal preservation plan 92% interested in NDLTD preservation strategy Workshop at 2008 conference, Aberdeen

Commercial alternatives: OCLC, ProQuest

NDLTD Program Priorities Standards and metadata Promotion, education, outreach

Annual conferences Institutional representatives new to ETD initiative Institutional representatives experienced with ETDs Sponsors

Awards: innovation and leadership Incorporation and non-profit status Develop measures of success

Membership Open access to ETDs

The NDLTD Bylaws Nov. ?, 2003 to date

Charitable, educational purposes: 501(c)(3) Do all things necessary or convenient No stocks, no dividends, no income

distributed to its direcors or officers

The NDLTD Bylaws: Members

Categories Universities Consortia Supporting organizations Individuals

No voting rights Primary interest of the Board Expected to be actively involved in the

conferences and committee activities

The NDTLD Bylaws: Conferences

Annual Provide a forum for members and guests

Hear papers Promote discussions Other appropriate activities

Technical demonstrations Exhibits

NDLTD Bylaws: Board of Directors

3-35 persons with demonstrated interest in, concern for, ability to decide and address issues

Any national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, race, creed, color, profession

3 year terms; 1/3 elected each year Meet at annual meetings, at least Quorum is a majority Chair committees: Executive, Finance,

Nominating, Annual Conference, Membership

NDLTD Bylaws: Officers Executive Director

Operations manager See that policies, orders, resolutions carried out Ex officio member of all committees

Secretary Attend all meetings of BoD Prepare and maintain custody of minutes Keep a book provided for the purpose a true and complete record of the

proceedings of all meetings Treasurer

Keep correct and complete records of the financial condition; furnish at BoD meetings

Legal custodian of all monies, notes, securities, valuables Immediately deposit all funds in some reliable bank/depository

Such other officers, agents as necessary

Digital Preservation Survey

Does your institution accept ETDs? 20% NO 80% YES

If so, does your institution accept only electronic versions?

61% NO 39% YESIf so, does your institution also maintain print copies?

43% NO 57% YES


What file formats do you support for ETDs?


How do you structure your ETD collection (i.e., separate collections based on discipline, year, or other criteria)?


Does your institution have a formalized preservation plan for its ETDs?

73.68% NO (70/95 responses)26.32% YES (25/95 responses)

97.94% of the people who took this survey(95 / 97) answered this question.


Do you have experience with or knowledge of LOCKSS-based preservation networks?

30.11% NO (28/93 responses)69.89% YES (65/93 responses)



Would your institution be interested in participating in an ETD-specific LOCKSS-based collaborative distributed digital archive sponsored by the NDLTD?

49.47% MAYBE (47/95 responses)8.42% NO (8/95 responses)42.11% YES (40/95 responses)



If yes, would there be a preference for 17.95% Dark archiving (14/78 responses)41.03% Public archive (32/78 responses)41.03% Dim archiving (32/78 responses)


Digital Preservation SurveyIf yes, what level of participation?

45.95% Contributing: have your ETDs preserved by a distributed network without sharing preservation responsibilities for other institutions

24.32% Sustaining: preserve your ETDs in the distributed network, share preservation responsibilities by running a secure server for the network, and contribute to the growth and maintenance of this network both technically and organizationally

29.73% Preservation: both preserve your ETDs in the distributed network and share preservation responsibilities by running a secure server for the network

Digital Preservation SurveyWhat platform or repository structure are you

using to collect, disseminate, and store your ETDs?

ETDdb Eprints Fedora Dspace In-house solution Other platform or repository

Digital Preservation SurveyWhat information would your institution need to

participate in an ETD DDPN? Costs: 38 Staffing: 16 Technical issues: 12 Expectations, responsibilities: 12 Hardware: 9 Long term goals, sustainability: 6 Access: 6 Procedures: 4 Agreement, legal terms: 4

Digital Preservation SurveyHow did you learn about this survey?

CGS: Council of Graduate Schools ASERL: Association of Southeastern Research

Libraries ARL: Association of Research Libraries NDLTD: Networked Digital Library of Theses

and Dissertations DLF: Digital Library Federation Another source

Digital Preservation SurveyComments/concerns, particularly the distributed model that the MetaArchive Cooperative is considering for ETDs

A welcome opportunity: 8 Still not enough: 5 Migration? 3 Confidential ETDs? 2 Not a priority: 2 Using CDs: 2

Documents

The NDLTD and a History of ETDs