Supplemental Files for ETDS:Diversity, Documentation, and Data

Sarah L. Shreeves

University of Miami

April 23, 2015

Nota bene:

The work and data described here was based on research I did at the University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign.

(But I did make the data available to folks at Illinois.)

(some of which I took with me ).

Background

Required deposit of ETDs in 2010 using Vireo and DSpace.

We see about 1200-1400 ETDs deposited per year.

Approximately 60% dissertations / 40% masters theses

Background

• Copyright in ETDs rests with students, but:

“The original records (including software) of an investigation for a graduate thesis or dissertation are the property of the University but a copy may be retained by the student at the discretion of the student's major department.” (From General Rules)

OA / Embargo policy

Default is open but students may choose:

- 2 year UIUC only

- 2 year completely restricted

Breakdown is usually about 65% open

/ 20% UIUC only

/ 15% Completely restricted

Supplemental Files Policy

As part of the ETD submission, students may upload supplemental electronic files as part of their thesis or dissertation. These files are considered appendix items, and an appendix page must be included as part of the thesis and should be numbered accordingly. This page should include an appendix title, such as “Appendix A: Interview Transcriptions,” and a brief description of the material along with the name of the file in which the material is contained.

Supplemental files are part of the dissertation and thesis and so are

an official student record.

Some numbers:

Between 2010-2014

6472 theses and dissertations

129 had

supplemental files.

That’s 2% (if you

round up)

Challenge

How important is capturing the supplemental files to the university

(see IP Policy above)?

To the PI?

More numbers

92 (71%) open access

23 (18%) U of I only

14 (11%) closed

50 (39%)physical science

44 (34%)life sciences

19 (15%) arts and humanities

16 (12%) social sciences

44 (34%) – 1 file44 (34%) – 2-5 files25 (19%) – 6-20 files16 (12%) - 21 or more

(several with 1000+ files)

Formats

What types of supplemental files?

63, 58%

15, 14%

6, 6%

24, 22%

Types

Data

Code

Code + Data

Protocols and othermaterial

Challenge - Description

No guidelines for supplemental files other than they must be described in an appendix.

Appendix descriptions are EXTREMELY variable.

Data does not stand alone – in most cases must be viewed alongside the dissertation or thesis to be understood and interpreted

Zip/tar files with no manifests

Challenge - Code

If you think data description is poor, code is worse

Zip/Tar files with no manifests

IP issues more complicated with code as well because of potential patent issues

Challenge: Formats

Huge variety of formats (purposeful)

But lots of data in pdf form!

But we cannot make same commitments to preservation to these that we make to the pdfincarnation of the ETD – what does that mean for the student record?

Zip / tar files particular concern

Challenge: Expressing Relationships

How do we best express relationships between supplemental files and the ETD itself?

Also, getting students depositing data as supplemental files outside the formal deposit process – complications exist there.

ETDs cannot be changed, so how do we allow additions of datasets, etc.?

Challenge: Access

Faculty members do ask that data and other supplemental files be removed, but student must make that request according to policy.

Challenge: Policy

What review needs to happen for things like code?

Does the Graduate College need to enforce better description? Should supplemental files be able to stand on their own?

Thanks!

Sarah Shreeves

sshreeves@miami.edu

@sshreeves

Licensed under a CC-BY (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International) License