Intellectual Property and Electronic Theses
Dr. Theo Andrew The role of this briefing paper is to raise awareness of the main issues involved when converting paper-based theses into a digital format. This change of media has many implications for the way theses are created, stored, organised, managed and accessed. This briefing paper specifically examines the agreements required by an institution when managing and storing theses in electronic format. This includes existing theses held by institutions in paper format and those presented by students electronically (born digital). These agreements typically involve those which may need to be obtained from the author, the institution or some other third party. A number of sample agreements are presented, which are intended to be adapted to suit an individual institution’s circumstances.
Electronic theses: the turning point
Purpose – To describe the key findings of the UK JISC‐funded Electronic Theses project that was led by The Robert Gordon University, as well as the results of associated projects that formed part of the JISC‐funded “FAIR” programme, and the way in which the recommendations will be taken forward.Design/methodology/approach – The research involved: an assessment of existing best practice relating to the production, management and use of e‐theses; the use of questionnaires to obtain feedback from potential users; the identification and testing of potentially useful software; consideration of the elements required in a metadata core set, and discussions with representative bodies to ensure that the model recommended for use in the UK had support from the key stakeholders.Findings – Information is provided about the value of the NDLTD web site, the suitability of DSpace and EPrints software for institutional e‐theses repositories, and the recommended infrastructure for the operation of an e‐theses service at n...
Guidance for selecting materials for digitisation
It is timely for the Information profession to consider the managerial implications of the digitisation process. Within existing academic libraries, which is my own area of interest and expertise, well-developed mechanisms are to be found for selecting print on paper materials. For digitisation to take its place in the Information world as a standard tool in the armoury of professionals, similar arrangements must exist in the electronic arena.