Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)

This chapter describes the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD, see www.ndltd.org), as an example of digital library practice. It builds upon discussion in earlier chapters on policy – touching on content, preservation, evaluation, and economics. In the remainder of this section we explain the rationale (Section 1.1), give a library perspective (Section 1.2), and explain our very broad perspective regarding evaluation. In the next section (2) we describe the community served and involved. Section 3 discusses the content, especially at the level of collection, considering its management, size, and access. Section 4 relates this work to the world of scholarly publishing, including perspectives of authors and publishers, considering as well intellectual property rights and preservation. The last section points toward future growth in membership, organization, and services.