Guidance Documents for Lifecycle Management of ETDs

In 2011, a research team led by the University of North Texas, the Educopia Institute/MetaArchive Cooperative, and the worldwide Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), began studying the production, dissemination, and preservation of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). The original intent was to develop and disseminate documentation for academic libraries that would help curators better understand and address the preservation challenges presented by these new digital collections. As researchers from the libraries of University of North Texas, Virginia Tech, Rice University, Boston College, Indiana State University, Penn State, and the University of Arizona began to grapple with ETD lifecycle management issues, they quickly realized that librarians were but one of many academic stakeholder groups that work collaboratively to produce and maintain ETD collections. Studying the library role in isolation was neither feasible nor helpful. The scope of our work increased to encompass the roles and responsibilities of core stakeholders in the ETD lifecycle: students, faculty, administrators, technologists, commercial vendors, and librarians. The resulting Guidance Documents address areas of interest to ETD program planners, managers, and curators. They will help this extended set of stakeholders understand, document, and address the administrative, legal, and technical challenges presented by ETDs—from submission to long-term preservation. The authors have aimed to be comprehensive in their treatment of ETD programs, and encourage readers to review all of the Guidance Document to gain a holistic view. However, they have also highlighted the sections of each document relevant to 4 roles in ETD programs: institutional administrators, submission staff, access and repository staff, and IT staff.