Transcript ETD 08 Presentation

Electronic Theses On-line System
(UK EThOS)
Opening Access To UK Theses
ETD 2008
Kevin O’Leary, Paul Needham, Tracy Kent, Anthony Troman,
Aims
The aim of EThOS is, through a collaborative approach:
– To offer a ‘single point of access’ where researchers the world
over can access ALL Doctoral theses produced by UK Higher
Education
– To support HEIs through the transition from print to e-theses
– To help UK HEIs expand available e-content by digitising paper
theses
– To demonstrate the quality of UK research and help attract
students and research investment into UK HE
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Background of EThOS
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Providing access to e-theses has had many forerunners and projects that
have brought us to the point we are at today:
JISC FAIR Programme (Focus on Access to Institutional Resources) has
funded a number of innovative projects such as:
Electronic Theses Project lead by Susan Copeland at Robert Gordon
University in 2002.
Theses Alive! Project lead by Edinburgh University.
The DAEDALUS project lead by University of Glasgow.
These projects were very important in suggesting a UK Core Metadata Set
was developed and the importance of Open Archives Initiative Protocol for
Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).
A growing number of institutional repositories are being set up to showcase
individual institution’s research outputs.
It is through the generous funding of organisations such as JISC and RLUK
and the expertise of those managing and developing the projects within the
partner institutions that these projects were able to go ahead, and EThOS
as a Central Hub and the EThOSnet project delivering the live system are
no exception.
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A system for all
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Supports the Open Access aspirations of UK HE
Offers a single point of access to all UK theses
Harvests e-theses from Institutional Repositories (Free)
Generates e-content by digitising paper theses (on a not-forprofit basis)
Delivers theses to the researcher in the format required
(Download free, other formats charged to the researcher)
Returns digitised theses to institutions for loading to their IR
(Free)
Preserves e-born and digitised theses in perpetuity (Free)
Enables the participation of any HEI, small or large, with or
without an IR
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A system for all
We will achieve this by
implementing a ‘Central Hub’
to offer a consistent system
across the UK collection
comprising e-storage and a
digitisation suite at The British
Library site in Boston Spa,
Yorkshire
KOL
Open Access
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The key to the success of EThOS is making UK theses ‘open to all’. The
UK HEI community mandated responsible open access to make UK
doctoral theses readily available and free at the point of use.
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The Open Access definition used by EThOS is:
- Download of thesis is free to researchers;
- Participating HEIs will pay up-front costs of theses digitisation;
- If the thesis is required hard-bound, soft-bound, loose-leaf or on CD/DVD,
costs will be charged to the researcher;
- For HEI's who opt-out of Open Access supply, digitisation of the thesis
will be charged to the first researcher ordering the item, and thereafter will
be free to download.
KOL
Areas for consideration
• The project has worked hard with HEIs to put together an approach
to legal issues such as IPR, copyright and third party access. This
will be discussed in more detail later in the presentation.
• Providing access to the wealth of information currently held on
paper theses and e-theses held on institutional repositories.
• Support for institutions is provided through the EThOS toolkit which
has been updated with guidance and documentation. The EThOS
toolkit will be covered in more detail at a later point.
• But where are we at the moment with providing access to theses
and why is there a need to digitise?
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Accessing Theses: The Current Situation in the UK
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The Solution?
How do we access e-theses from institutional
repositories nationwide and make them
immediately downloadable for researchers
worldwide?
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E-theses at Institutional repository:
Getting from (A) to (B)
• (A) E-theses are ‘out there’ in Institutional Repositories
• (B) EThOS Central Hub needs populating with e-theses
– Metadata
– And (in many cases) copies of the theses themselves
• How to get from (A) to (B)?
– In theory, many ways possible
– In reality, institutional repositories use software that supports
metadata harvesting using the OAI-PMH
• So, EThOS adopted the harvesting model as the most practical
solution to get from (A) to (B)
PN
OAI-PMH
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OAI-PMH
– By default most repositories just expose simple Dublin Core
– OAI-PMH is a protocol for exposure of metadata rather than content
– Link to the metadata splash-page not the content itself
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However
– Internally, repositories hold metadata richer than simple DC
– OAI-PMH can support richer metadata
– No reason why repositories can’t expose the location/address of content via
OAI-PMH
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Hence: UKETD_DC Application Profile
– Based on the core metadata set suggested by UK e-theses projects
– Qualified Dublin Core plus a few theses-specific fields, e.g. thesis advisor,
qualification name, qualification level (compatible with ETD-ms!)
– Includes URIs of thesis bitstreams/files themselves allowing EThOS to harvest
content as well as metadata
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Applying UKETD_DC
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Tools include add-ons for:
– DSpace
– GNU Eprints
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Add-ons
– Facilitate both entry and exposure of metadata
– simple to install, typically taking less than half an hour
– Won’t break anything
• Cranfield CERES required installation of:
– Customised input submission forms
– DSpaceOAICrosswalk for uketd_dc
– DSpace fix to expose only theses via uketd_dc
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Information, advice and required downloads are available from the
EThOS Toolkit:
http://ethostoolkit.cranfield.ac.uk
PN
But what about printed theses? Digitisation Project & Suite
The JISC funded UK Theses
Digitisation Project is digitising
up to 11,300 of the most
requested paper theses for free
to ensure EThOS is fully
functioning system from day 1.
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Microfilm vs. Paper Digitisation Quality
Digitised from Microfilm
Digitised from paper thesis
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Workflows
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The Central Hub – a one-stop-shop
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Intellectual Property Rights in the UK
(note: these issues also apply to UK IRs)
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EThOS will digitise and distribute paper theses already in existence WITHOUT seeking specific
permissions from the author!
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Authors normally hold the IPR in the content of their theses
– EThOS distributes on behalf of authors – no claim to IPR
– Future authors will agree formally to allow web distribution of their thesis (or not) –
Institutions should build such agreements into their thesis deposit procedures ASAP,
whether they have an IR or not (see the EThOS toolkit)
– For digitisation of theses already submitted EThOS assumes (based on experience) that the
majority of authors are happy to have their thesis supplied
– 200,000 of them have signed Agreement forms in the past for the BL to distribute their
thesis – 11,300 of these will be digitised free to the institution as part of the JISC funded UK
Thesis Digitisation Project
– Should authors object to their thesis being loaded to EThOS, there is a rapid notice and
take-down policy based on the JORUM model.
– All researchers (readers) must agree to terms and conditions for every thesis supplied.
– EThOS must take a practical and pragmatic approach to this issue in order to deliver a costeffective solution which meets the needs of its users and the majority of its suppliers (the
authors).
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Rapid take-down and notice policy applies also to 3rd party content
KOL
A financially viable system
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Open Access is NOT free access! If UK HE wants to offer Open Access, they must
cover the costs (as they do for ILL’s).
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For research currently held on paper, we will digitise to generate e-content.
Digitisation is manually intensive and therefore expensive!
To fund digitisation the following participation options have been devised:
– Open Access Sponsor – contribute up-front and receive the full value of your
contribution in digitised theses selected on-demand by researchers using the
system
– Associate Member Level 1 (Open Access) – contribute retrospectively to the full
cost of theses digitised
– Associate Member Level 2 – theses contributed but first researcher pays for
digitisation
– Associate Member Level 3 – metadata supplied but theses supplied by the
institution
UK institutions can select the participation option most appropriate to their own
circumstances
Digitised once – available forever.
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Costs
Digitisation
To digitise a bound thesis and return it undamaged to the institution
(‘Digitise and return’)
£35
To digitise a thesis supplied for digitisation loose-leaf or where the binding
can be removed and the thesis discarded after digitisation (‘Digitise and
discard’)
£23
Open Access Sponsor
Institution
size
JISC
Bands
Contribution
p.a.
No. theses
digitised @ £35
No. theses
digitised @ £23
Large
A, B, C
£8000
228
347
Medium
D, E, F
£4000
114
173
Small
Others
£2000
57
86
Smallest
Others
£700
20
30
Note: subject to VAT discussions – if VAT is chargeable, the contribution remains the same but
the number of theses decreases
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Additional services to researchers
 Downloads of e-theses are free of charge
To prepare a thesis into a physical delivery format, if required
by the researcher, will be charged at cost
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Supply
format
Cost to
researcher
Download
Free
Printed
- Loose-leaf
- Soft-bound
- Hard-bound
£20
£25
£30
CD/DVD
£15 (inc. VAT)
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Why are we asking for contributions up front?
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Guarantees EThOS
Supports the EThOS infrastructure
Advance contributions help to establish, build and develop.
Support for Open Access:
- To allow other, smaller HEIs or those working in less popular areas
to make their theses available under other models
- Digitisation of specified numbers of theses
• May be exempt of VAT (subject to further investigation)
• Contributions are only necessary until all paper theses are digitised
(10-15 years) – digitise ONCE, available FOREVER.
• Those who most directly benefit guarantee a facility which allows all
to take part.
TK
Benefits for institutions
• Savings on costs of Theses
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Producing, borrowing and handling theses (eg: shelf space)
Centralised processing for the supply and delivery of e-theses
Workflow Savings through the Toolkit
Staff time
• Efficient and fit for purpose providing best value for
money
• Statistical data (eg: most frequently requested materials
by subject, by HEI, by date) to help predict future
demands and target efforts
• Support for the principle of Open Access and increased
access to publicly-funded research
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EThOS Toolkit Portfolio
Interactive set of Tools:
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Suite of resources available for e-theses creation
– model end user and deposit licences
– Harvesting
– Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright
– FAQs for Authors, Institutions, Researchers and Supervisors
– Workflow
– moving towards mandatory submission of thesis in electronic format
Creation of standards to ensure maximum interoperability
– metadata,
– procedures,
– Technical
• http://ethostoolkit.cranfield.ac.uk
TK
UK EThOS System
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Supports the Open Access aspirations of UK HE
Offers a single point of access to all UK theses
Harvests e-theses from Institutional Repositories (Free)
Generates e-content by digitising paper theses (on a not-forprofit basis)
Delivers theses to the researcher in the format required
(Download free, other formats charged to the researcher)
Returns digitised theses to institutions for loading to their IR
(Free)
Preserves e-born and digitised theses in perpetuity (Free)
Enables the participation of any HEI, small or large, with or
without an IR
– Opens access to all UK theses!
KOL
So when does it all happen?
Updated, enhanced Toolkit available now:
http://ethostoolkit.cranfield.ac.uk
EThOS system – September 2008
More information:
www.ethos.ac.uk
Human help:
[email protected]
KOL
Thank –You
KOL