4. Project Public Debut

The public announcement of YMTDL (http://ymtdl.med.yale.edu) was issued in late February, 2003. Completing the work necessary for the public debut in time for the School of Medicine graduating class of 2003 participation was important in “making it real.“ Because a unique open URL identifies each thesis, the library online catalog records for both electronic and print versions of theses can be enhanced with a link to the electronic version. As the project continues to develop, we expect to participate in the NDLTD union catalog experiments.

Project leaders have discussed ways to improve the quantity of participants in the School of Medicine graduating class of 2003. Publicity was simplified and made more attractive. During library education activities with 4^th year medical students, the YMTDL project was mentioned. Posters were also conspicuously placed in student mailboxes, campus bulletin boards, and near Medical Library computer labs where students normally work on the final version of their thesis.

The concept of electronic submission and approval through the YMTDL system was initially deferred in precedence to developing the author permission and publishing facets of the project. The benefits of ETD submission and approval capability have bee discussed with the Office of Student Research, and the development of a pilot demonstration of efficacy is anticipated for 2003-2004 academic year.

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