Preface

The CERIST Research Centre on Scientific and Technical Information of Algiers was created in 1985, with the main mission of design and implementation of the National Information System. Within this framework, a big importance is given to the academic literature recording and availability. This was practiced through a production of national bibliographic databases and national union catalogues. Examples of these bibliographic products were Algerian Scientific Abstracts, Algeriana, CAT (Algerian Theses Catalogue), FNT (National Theses Repository), which can be interrogated through the Academic Research Network and CERIST websites.

These initiatives are giving CERIST more and more competencies and know how in a term of academic data acquisition and processing. However, now there is a need to go beyond the bibliographic records. Because we have to establish that local users and scholars are in need of obtaining full text and digital content. Within this context, and according to an official decree issued in August 2000 by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, an electronic copy of every Master‘s and PhD thesis defended in every academic institution must be deposited at CERIST Research Centre. The submission of these copies is a condition to get the diploma. Then the centre is entrusted with a mission to create a national ETD system, and to update the Current Researches Database (BDRC), which is a national inventory of current theses and academic works.

Right now modules of acquisition, control, inventory, recording and processing were launched. The archiving and the delivery modules are not launched yet. In fact the “Delivery subsystem“ is under construction and doesn‘t seems to pose big problems regarding the experience of CERIST in term of academic websites hosting. However we must establish that Theses files are simply saved in hard disks without a professional archiving plan. Indeed there is a serious need to design the “digital archiving subsystem“.

So what we aim through our current study is to understand how the ETD system is operating and how these files are saved? And what would guarantee that these digital materials deposited by students might be preserved for a long term? Then how international standards, rules and techniques of Digital archiving can be applied to this system?

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