C W Rensleigh: IMPLEMENTING AN ELECTRONIC THESES AND DISSERTATIONS (ETD) INITIATIVE WITHIN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION LIBRARIES
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2. The Rand Afrikaans University Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) Initiative
As a member of the Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium (GAELIC) the RAU Library shares in the vision to create a virtual library with local service interfaces forming part of a global information community for clients in Gauteng and its environs.
During 1999 the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) launched an Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) initiative. This initiative formed part of the Library‘s evolving Digital Library project. With the background investigation of the ETD initiative it was ascertained that the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) has an open invitation to aspiring members to join and be part of the international theses and dissertations project.
The first step of the RAU ETD initiative was to setup an Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) workgroup. Key people representing the variance departments/sections of the University and Library were selected. This was done in order to gain input from, and to cover, all the areas in the University that will be influenced by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations initiative. The ETD workgroup met on a regular basis. The following are some of the concerns and issues that were addressed (Rensleigh 2000):
2.1 Academic considerations
- How will such a project influence the students and study leaders? Will the students be responsible for the creation of the electronic version of the document or will there be personnel assigned to do this on behave of the students? A similar question exists regarding the creation of the keywords en abstract.
- Then there is the whole issue surrounding the copyright on the documentation. Will RAU have to relinquish its copyright claim? Will it be possible to show a disclaimer on the Web indicating that the copyright resides at RAU?
- What are the technical requirements of the electronic document? Does it have to be in a specific format like MS Word, Word Perfect or PDF? Will the entire document be published or only the abstract? Will the text (content of the document) be searchable? Can access to these documents be controlled, in other words, can access be limited to certain groups of people, like for instance only students registered at RAU (using a student number) or only people using RAU‘s computer facilities on the campus (using an IP address).
2.2 Administrative considerations
- The changing of the general regulations, such as the number of printed and electronic copies that need to be handed in for examination purposes will have to be looked at.
- How will the confidentiality clause that is applicable to certain research results be accommodated?
2.3 Information Technological considerations
- What are the requirements for the hardware (server, scanners, etc.) that will be used?
- What software is needed for the hosting of and the conversion of the original document to the required format?
- What will the impact be on the existing Information Technology infrastructure?
- What extra computer security measures, if any, are required?
- Which entry points (user access points) to the system will be used: 1) The Internet. 2) The Library OPAC. 3) The Library Web OPAC (bRAUs)? What will the physical layout of the screens look like?
2.4 Personnel implications
- What will the impact of this initiative be on the existing personnel infrastructure?
- If it is decided to scan in retrospective work, how many personnel will be required for this part of the project and how many years back will be scanned in?
2.5 Financial implications
- For a lot of the concerns above there are financial implications. Potentially, the areas with the most significant costs are likely to be, the hardware and software needed and the additional personnel requirements.
In addition to the above concerns the role of the Library is discussed. The Library will play a variety of roles that will include the following:
Indexing of the Documents
- A detailed procedure will be determined for the correct indexing of these documents.
Giving access and making documents available to users
- The Library already has an existing client base consisting of students, lecturers, and external users.
- There is also an existing IT infrastructure (including the WEB OPAC) that can be used to gain access to the electronic documents.
Archiving of documents
- Currently a lot of physical space is being used for storage of the paperbound copies of these documents.
- The electronic version of these documents will take up a lot less space. For the interim both versions (paper and electronic) can be archived, but a cut-off date must be considered whereby only electronic versions will be archived.
The scanning of documents
- A decision needs to be made whether retrospective work will make up part of this project, in which case it must be scanned. The Library is already managing two other projects where scanners are being used, hence the scanning infrastructure that is available.
© This publication and its compilation in form and content is copyrighted.
Every realization which is not explicitly allowed by copyright law requires a written
agreement. Especially, this holds for reprography and processing / storing by electronic systems.
ETD Proceeding DTD
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