The NDLTD and a History of ETDs

1
The NDLTD and a History of ETDs

• Gail McMillan
• Director, Digital Library and Archives Virginia
  Tech
• OETDA, March 28, 2008

2
The NDLTD http//www.ndltd.org/

• 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.

3
Early VT ETD Goals

• 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

4
In the beginning

• 1987 openly discussed ETDs at UMI meeting
• 1991 VT ETD initiative
• 1995 VT Graduate School invites Library to
  participate
• 1996 Library brings the players together, creates
  web site, drafts workflow scripts
• 1997 VT requires ETDs CGSPs DRSCAP
• 1998 NDLTD from National to Networked Digital
  Library of Theses and Dissertations

5
VT ETD 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

6
VT ETD SURA Funding

• 1993 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.

7
VT ETD SURA Funding

• 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.

8
VT ETD 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 will
• be commonplace. Fox 9/96

9
Hosted or Visited for ETD Support

• Onsite at Arizona State University, Georgia
  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,
  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

10
From National to Networked DLTD 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

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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

12
NDLTDs Key Constituencies

• Faculty-Fox/VT, Moxley/USF, Pavani/PUC-Rio, etc.
• Students--Allard/UKy, Edminster/USF
• Graduate school administrators--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

13
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 ETD MS, Strategic Planning

14
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

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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.

16
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

17
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 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

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NDLTD Board of Directors 2008

• Ellen Wagner
• Vinod Chachra
• Edward A. Fox
• Joseph Moxley
• Jude Edminster
• Suzie Allard
• William A. T. Clark
• Eric F. Van de Velde
• Gail McMillan
• John H. Hagen
• Denise A. D. Bedford
• Joan K. Lippincott
• Julia C. Blixrud
• Thomas B. Hickey

• Tony Cargnelutti
• Ana Pavani
• Hussein Suleman
• José Luis Borbinha
• Peter Schirmbacher
• Shalini R. Urs
• Christine Jewell
• Eva Müller
• Samson Soong
• Sharon Reeves
• Susan Copeland
• Xiaolin Zhang
• Austin McLean

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NDLTD Committees

• Conference Planning
• Services and Standards
• Awards (Adobe and NDLTD), 2004 to date
• 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, OCLC

20
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

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Benefits of NDLTD Membership

• Eligible to be aided by a Mentoring Program
• Discounts on conference registration fees
• Discounts on exhibits/displays at the Annual
  Conference
• 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)
• NEW Preservation Network
• Join ETD-L Send mail to listserv_at_listserv.vt.edu.

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NDLTD Membership Fee Structurehttp//www.ndltd.or
g/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 members)
• 600-7,800 Category I (up to 50 members)

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The NDTLD Bylaws Conferences

• Annual
• Provide a forum for members and guests
• Hear papers
• Promote discussions
• Other appropriate activities
• Technical demonstrations
• Exhibits

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NDLTD Conferences

• 2009 University of Pittsburgh/West Virginia
  University
• 2008 Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen,
  Scotland
• 2007 Uppsala University, Sweden
• 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

25
Availability of VT ETDs
26
Increasing Availability of VT ETDs
27
VT ETD Author Survey 2007/08

• While preparing your ETD, where did you find
  answers to your questions?
• 60 VT ETD web site
• 18 Friends
• 12 My committee
• Was this web site useful?
• 4 No
• 32 Somewhat
• 59 Useful - very useful

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VT ETD Author Survey 2007/08

• Compared to what you expected, how difficult was
  it to create a PDF file?
• 14 More difficult
• 57 Less difficult
• 30 neutral

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VT ETD Author Survey 2007/08

• Where were you when you submitted?
• 35 Off campus residence
• 25 Campus office
• 13 Off campus workplace

30
VT ETD Author Survey 2007/08

• Compared to what you expected, how difficult was
  it to submit your ETD?
• 15 more difficult
• 64 less difficult
• 22 neutral

31
VT ETD Author Survey 2007/08

• Within the next 1-2 years, what do you intend to
  publish from your ETD?
• 51 article
• 18 conference proceedings
• 4 book
• 3 chapter
• 4 nothing
• 17 dont know

32
VT ETD Author Survey 2007/08

• If you restricted access to your VT ETD, on what
  did you base this decision?
• 46 Advice of faculty
• 25 Personal choice
• 20 Other
• 4 Advice of others
• 3 Patent pending
• 3 Advice of publisher

33
VT ETD User Survey 2007/08

• If you are with a university, does it accept
  ETDs?
• 80 Yes
• 10 No
• 10 not from a university
• If your university does not accept ETDs, do you
  think it should?
• 58 Yes
• 28 No opinion
• 14 No

34
VT ETD User Survey 2007/08

• Have you submitted an ETD?
• 69 No
• 31 Yes
• What is your reason for using this digital
  library?
• 85 Research
• 7 Personal interest
• 5 Learn about ETDs
• 2 Job related

35
VT ETD User Survey 2007/08

• If you searched for an ETD, how fast was the
  response to your search request?
• 6 Slow
• 84 Fairly fast, fast, very fast
• 9 didnt search
• If you downloaded any ETDs, how easy was it to
  find what you were looking for?
• 10 Difficult
• 90 Fairly easy, easy, very easy

36
Publishers surveys 1999-2002http//lumiere.lib.v
t.edu/surveys/

• According to the editorial policy,
  OA/university-only constitutes prior
  publication
• Open access ETDs
• 9 science publishers
• 14 social science publishers
• 15 humanities publishers
• University-only accessible ETDs
• 1 science publishers
• 4 social science publishers
• 6 humanities publishers

37
NDLTD and Preservation of ETDs

• Primary concern for early initiatives
• Paper seen as more enduring
• Commercial alternatives OCLC, ProQuest
• MetaArchive survey 2008
• 75 no formal preservation plan
• 92 interested in NDLTD preservation strategy
• Workshop at 2008 conference, Aberdeen

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Digital preservation?

• The systematic management of digital works over
  an indefinite period of time.
• Unlike traditional preservation, digital works
  demand ongoing attention--constant input of
  effort, time, and money. Technological and
  organizational change is the stumbling block for
  preserving digital information beyond a few
  years.
• Digital preservation is processes and activities
  that ensure the continued access to works
  existing in digital formats.

39
Backup/IRs vs. Digital Preservation

• Backups are tactical measures--typically stored
  in a single location (often nearby or collocated
  with the servers backed up) and performed only
  periodically. Backups address short-term data
  loss via minimal investment of money and staff
  time resources. Backups are not a comprehensive
  solution to the problem of preserving information
  over time.
• Digital preservation is strategic--a
  geographically dispersed set of secure caches of
  critical information. A true digital
  preservation program requires multi-institutional
  collaboration and at least some ongoing
  investment to realistically address the issues
  involved in preserving information over time.

40
MetaArchive

• A distributed digital preservation cooperative
  for digital archives
• Established under the auspices of and with
  funding from the National Digital Information and
  Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP) of
  the Library of Congress
• Sustained by cooperative fee memberships and LC
  contracts
• Provides training and models for other groups to
  establish similar distributed digital
  preservation networks
• Fosters broader awareness of digital preservation
  issues

41
Distributed Digital Preservation Network

• Effective preservation succeeds by replicating
  copies of content in secure, distributed
  locations over time.
• Security reduces the likelihood that any single
  cache will be compromised.
• Distribution reduces the likelihood that the loss
  of any single cache will lead to a loss of the
  preserved content.
• A single organization is unlikely to have the
  capability to operate several geographically
  dispersed and securely maintained servers
• Inter-institutional agreements will ensure
  commitment to act in concert over time.

42
MetaArchive Distributed Digital Preservation
Networks Across the World, a Region, a State

• Programmatically collects content from a host
• Preserves content among partners servers
• Low cost to administer and run
• Standard hardware, free software
• Audits content and repairs as needed from host or
  partners
• Disseminates content to only the appropriate
  users
• Host librarys clientele see the content from
  hosts site
• Unless it isnt available from there
• Provide copies to partners only to audit and
  repair
• Dark archive only

43
Key Features of the MetaArchive

• Distributed preservation strategy
• Flexible organizational model
• Formal content selection process
• Capability for migrating archives
• Dark archiving strategy
• Low cost to deployment
• Self-sustaining incentives
• Simple exchange mechanisms

44
Successful Disaster Recovery Test

• Focused on Hardware, Content, Network
• Simulated and experienced crashing primary node
• Intentionally damaged content (truncate files)
• Disabled access to plug-ins
• Ran routine tests for bad disk, cache manager,
  conspectus database, yum repository, kickstart
  script, xml configuration file, etc.
• Reconstructed primary node, resurrected network,
  reconstructed content
• Documentation

45
ETD Preservation Survey

• Help gauge the digital library communitys
  interest in establishing an ETD-specific
  preservation network.
• 14 multiple choice and short answer questions
• 95 responses Jan.-Feb. 2008

46
ETD Preservation Survey

• How did you learn about this survey?
• 17 ARL Association of Research Libraries
• 15 ASERL Association of Southeastern Research
  Libraries
• 16 CGS Council of Graduate Schools
• 13 DLF Digital Library Federation
• 39 NDLTD Networked Digital Library of Theses
  and Dissertations

47
ETD Preservation Survey

• Does your institution accept ETDs?
• 20 NO 80 YES
• If so, does your institution accept only
  electronic versions?
• 61 NO 39 YES

48
ETD Preservation Survey

• Estimate the number of ETDs added to your
  collection annually.
• 5-10 6
• 20-50 15
• 100-199 28
• 200-299 8
• 300-399 13
• 500-599 7
• 600-699 4
• 700-799 6
• 800-900 6
• 1,000 7

• Estimate the number of ETDs in your collection.
• gt100 27
• 100-199 10
• 200-499 14
• 500-999 17
• 1000-1999 13
• 2000-4999 11
• 10,000-20,180 7

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ETD Preservation Survey

• .pdf 21
• .jpg 7
• .wav 7
• Other formats 7
• .gif 6
• .html 5
• .mov 5
• Any format 5
• .avi 5
• .mp3 5
• .tif 5
• .mpg 4
• .doc 4
• .xml 4
• .png 3
• .ppt 2
• .aif 2
• .qt 2

• .aif 2
• .avi 5
• .doc 4
• .gif 6
• .html 5
• .jpg 7
• .mov 5
• .mp3 5
• .mpg 4
• .pdf 21
• .png 3
• .ppt 2
• .qt 2
• .tif 5
• .wav 7
• .xml 4
• Any format 5
• Other formats 7

50
ETD Preservation Survey

• 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.

51
ETD Preservation Survey

• Do you have experience with or knowledge of
  LOCKSS-based preservation networks?
• 30.11 NO (28/93 responses)
• 69.89 YES (65/93 responses)
• 95.88 of the people who took this survey (93/97)
  answered this question.

52
ETD Preservation Survey

• 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)
• 42.11 YES (40/95 responses)
• 8.42 NO (8/95 responses)
• 97.94 of the people who took this survey (95/97)
  answered this question.

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ETD Preservation Survey

• 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)
• 80.41 of the people who took this survey (78/97)
  answered this question.

54
ETD Preservation Survey

• What would be the level of participation for your
  institution in participating in the NDLTD
  distributed digital preservation archive?
• 45.95 Contributing
• 29.73 Preservation
• 24.32 Sustaining

55
ETD Preservation Survey

• What platform or repository structure are you
  using to collect, disseminate, and store your
  ETDs?
• 10 ETDdb
• 1 Eprints
• 2 Fedora
• 19 DSpace
• 22 In-house solution
• 46 Other platform or repository (1-3
  CONTENTdm, Digital Commons, DigiTool, OhioLink,
  ProQuest, )

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ETD Preservation Survey

• What 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

57
ETD Preservation Survey

• Comments/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

58
NDLTD Distributed Preservation Workshop

• June 4, 2008
• 11th International ETD Conference
• Aberdeen, Scotland Robert Gordon University
• http//scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/DDPNWorkshop20080
  6.pdf