C W Rensleigh: IMPLEMENTING AN ELECTRONIC THESES AND DISSERTATIONS (ETD) INITIATIVE WITHIN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION LIBRARIES

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

2.2 Administrative considerations

2.3 Information Technological considerations

2.4 Personnel implications

2.5 Financial implications

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

Giving access and making documents available to users

Archiving of documents

The scanning of documents



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