Content area
Full Text
1 Introduction
The acronym ETD stands for electronic theses and dissertations; thus, "an ETD is an electronic document that explains and presents the research outcome of a graduate student" ([13] Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), 2003). ETD systems are computerised systems to submit, capture, archive, manage, distribute, and provide access to electronic theses. The first ETD project was launched in 1987 at Ann Arbor, Michigan, by University Microfilms International (UMI). Virginia Tech began to develop technology and procedures for electronic thesis submission in 1997. Now, Virginia Tech and about 200 other universities participate in the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD - www.ndltd.org/) ([11] Suleman et al. , 2001; [14] Virginia Tech, 2006). It is clear that in recent years an increasing number of universities are building their own ETD systems or are at least considering doing so. [1] Bevan (2005), for instance, describes the issues involved in the introduction of mandatory submission of electronic theses at Cranfield University in the UK. In response to this trend, McGill University in Montreal, Canada has undertaken a pilot project to test aspects of workflow, style sheets, metadata, and search functions. This paper provides a progress report of the McGill Electronic Thesis Initiative (ETI) pilot project and presents issues to be considered further during the development of the ETD system.
2 Background
McGill University, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is one of the top research-oriented universities in North America. McGill offers about 350 graduate programs in more than 85 units. Since 1821, the university has attracted many excellent faculty members and students from around the world, and it now has 1,485 professors and approximately 32,000 students. Each year the university library handles 300 PhD dissertations and 700 masters theses, converting these into electronic format presents various challenges. Although the former Graduate Studies Policy Committee considered using electronic dissertations in the late 1990s, it delayed taking action because of a number of uncertainties that could not be quickly resolved.
In Canada, the University of Waterloo began studying the issue of electronic theses in 1996. Several other universities (University of Guelph, Wilfred Laurier University, University of Toronto, York University, and Université de Montréal) tried pilot ETD projects and made a small number of theses available...