‘Electronic Theses’ The RGU Project

1. ‘Electronic Theses’ The RGU Project I.T. Aspects Andrew Penman Richard Milne

2. ETDs and Software Decisions • A look at current ETD software • Choosing the appropriate software • Key factors for selection • Selected system / software overviews • Common ETD file formats • Metadata • ETD - Born digital / paper based conversions • Finding out more

3. ETD Software Options • ETD-db • Developed at Virginia Tech • EPrints • Developed at the University of Southampton • DSpace • Developed jointly by MIT Libraries and Hewlett-Packard • Greenstone Digital Library • Produced by the New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato

4. Selection Criteria • Open Source Software • Cost • Customisation • Functionality of the Software • Interoperability • Document Management and Storage Capability • Searching and Browsing Ability • Sustainability Aspects of the Software • Support – Mailing list / Online Guidance • Established User Base – Knowledge and Experience • Continuing Development and Upgrades

5. Open Source • Acquisition cost negligible - Source code freely downloadable with no license fee/s • Creation of a community driven approach helps identify features that are useful and most appropriate to the users needs • Ability to alter code and further develop functionality tailored for individual institutions and in turn share these updates and additions

6. Functionality - Interoperability O p e n  A r c h i v e s  I n i t i a t i v e OAI:PMH – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting • The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting provides an application-independent interoperability framework based on metadata harvesting. • OAI-compliance means all Archives created in this way are "interoperable.” They use the same (OAI) convention for tagging their metadata (author, title, date, journal, etc.). That means the contents of all such Archives can be harvested, integrated, navigated and searched seamlessly, as if they were all in one global "virtual" archive.

7. Sustainability • Established User Base • Share institutional experiences and knowledge • Help overcome initial barriers • Hardware / Software requirements / versions • Installation / Implementation issues • Collaboration for development customisation • Support • Online mailing lists to allow this knowledge to be shared and utilised • Online Guidance from the creator in the form of concise documentation, FAQs and bug fixes etc. • Continuing Development and Upgrades • Continued support and work on the core software from the original creator

8. DSpace and EPrints • Both have been proven at successfully creating digital repositories • Capturing, Storing, Indexing, Preserving, and Distributing • Both can accommodate a huge variety of document types and content with the ability to define your own chosen type for recognition • E-Theses • Conference papers • Articles and preprints • Working papers • Images: Diagrams / Photographs • Audio files / Video files • Scanned and reformatted older (paper based) documents

9. DSpace at MITwww.dspace.org • Cambridge University* • Columbia University* • Cornell University* • Massachusetts Institute of Technology* • Ohio State University* • University of Rochester* • University of Edinburgh • University of Glasgow • University of Toronto* • University of Washington* *These institutions are part of the one-year research study of the DSpace Federation Project testing the adaptability of the system to a targeted group of institutions with varied needs.

10. Web Server Engine Database / Storage DSpace at MITwww.dspace.org • Strong focus on building a supportive and developing community • Highly detailed website offering resources for implementing the software and the population and maintenance of a repository • Software offers a detailed workflow system to monitor and manage submissions • Developments such as EUL-DSpace already underway to offer additional functionality

11. EPrintswww.eprints.org • Australian National University • California Institute of Technology • Lund University • The Open University • University of Durham • University of Glasgow • University of Nottingham • University of St. Andrews • University of Southampton

12. Web Server Engine Database / Storage EPrintswww.eprints.org • 125 known archives running EPrints software worldwide. • 107 Running version 2, 18 Running version 1 • A total of 33584 records in known archives. • Continual revision of software (Now on version 2.3.0)

13. Commonly Used ETD File Formats Metadata: XML - Extensible Mark-up Language Structured information contains both content (words, pictures, etc.) and some indication of what role that content plays (for example, content in a section heading has a different meaning from content in a footnote). XML can be used to define a standard way to add mark-up to documents. With e-theses this can allow for common metadata formats to be created to allow institutions worldwide the ability to perform powerful searches and retrieval.

14. ETD File Formats(…continued) ETD Body: PDF - Portable Document Format Commonly used file format for transferring electronic information across different computer platforms (e.g., Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, or OS/2) Unlike other electronic file formats such as HTML, the Portable Document Format preserves the exact layout, font attributes, and formatting of the document from which it was created, ensuring that the electronic version of a document appears just like the original. This is the main reason why PDF is currently, by far, the most common format in which e-theses are created. Efficient for conversion of paper based documents as it allows for scalability of the document whilst maintaining form.

15. Further Information • Visit our new project website: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/library/e-theses.htm