Electronic theses and dissertations at the University of Virginia

Abstract

Although technology has made life easier in many ways, one constant complaint has been the time it takes to learn it. This is why simplicity was the main concern of the University of Virginia (UVa) when implementing the Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD).[1] ETD are not a new concept. The uniqueness of the Virginia ETD lies in the fact that the whole process was assimilated through the technical skills and intellectual efforts of faculty and students. The ETD creates no extra network load and is fully automatic from the submission of data, to the conversion into MARC[2] and subsequent loading into the Library's online catalog, VIRGO. This paper describes the trajectory of an ETD upon submission. The system is designed to be easy and self-explanatory. Submission instructions guide the student step by step. Screen messages, such as errors, are generated automatically when appropriate, while e-mail messages, regarding the status of the process, are automatically posted to students, advisors, catalogers, and school officials. The paradigms and methodologies will help to push forward the ETD project at the University. Planned enhancements are: • Indexing the data for searching and retrieval using Dienst for Web interface, to synchronize the searching experience in both VIRGO and the Web. • Securing the authorship of the data. • Automating the upload and indexing bibliographic data in VIRGO. • Employing Uniform Resource Names (URN) using the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) Handle architecture scheme. • Adding Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) to the list of formats acceptable for archiving ETD.