TCDL 2009 will be host to a pre-conference on May 26 at the University of Texas at Austin campus. The TCDL Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Forum will focus on issues surrounding ETDs in universities, from technical management to graduate school staff issues to ingestion issues in libraries.
The ETD Forum will be held in the A.C.E.S. Building in the Avaya Auditorium. For more information, click here.
Presentations
To download the presentations from the Forum, please click here.
Agenda
9:00-9:15 a.m. |
Welcome |
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Terry Kahn, Associate Dean, Graduate Student Services, University of Texas at AustinSession Description: Dr. Kahn will kick off the ETD Forum with a warm welcome for participants, setting the stage for events of the day. About the Speaker: Dr. Kahn is the administrator in charge of UT Austin’s requirement that all dissertations be submitted in digital format. He is a great supporter of ETDs. The University of Texas at Austin has required digital dissertations since May of 2001. At the Fifth International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations in 2002, Dr. Kahn related the UT Austin transition to ETDs in his paper/presentation, “One year with digital dissertations, Office of Graduate Studies, The University of Texas at Austin.” |
9:15-9:30 a.m. |
Introductions |
9:30-10:15 a.m. |
The Ohio ETD Association: Advantages of a Statewide ETD Association |
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Angela McCutcheon, Director Thesis and Dissertation Services, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and founder of the Ohio ETD AssociationSession Description: Angela will share results of her statewide Ohio ETD survey and discuss how she led an initiative to create a statewide association. She will cover tips and advantages of having a statewide network; how the association can assist ETD programs within the state in increasing ETD processing efficiencies and individual campus productivity; provide suggestions on how to build membership and set up a Web site, select Board Members to develop a Texas association, and the nuts and bolts of an association creation. About the Speaker: Angela McCutcheon is the Director of Electronic Thesis and Dissertation at Ohio University, Athens, OH. Angela initiated the development of a statewide Ohio ETD Association in 2006. Since this time, the Association has held three annual conferences and three semi-annual meetings. Angela holds an Associate degree in Computer Systems, Bachelor in Management, Master in Education, and is currently working on her dissertation in the area of ETDs for her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology at Ohio University. |
10:15-10:45 a.m. |
Purpose and Goals of the Texas ETD Association |
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Laura Hammons, Director, Thesis Office, Texas A&M University and Chair of the Texas Digital Library ETD Working GroupSession Description: Laura will discuss the history surrounding the newly formed Texas ETD Association and outline the purpose and goals of this organization, soliciting input from participants. About the Speaker: Laura has worked in the Thesis Office at Texas A&M University since January 2008. Prior to that she worked in International Student Services and Graduate and International Admissions at Texas A&M. Laura is currently pursuing her doctorate degree in Educational Human Resource Development at Texas A&M. She assumed the role as Chair of the TDL ETD Working group in April 2009 in order to spearhead the development of the Texas ETD Association. |
10:45 -11:30 a.m. |
Creative Commons Licensing and Copyright Issues |
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Georgia K. Harper, Scholarly Communications Advisor, The University Libraries, The University of Texas at AustinSession Description: Georgia will provide an overview of creative commons licensing and discuss copyright issues as they pertain to ETDs. About the Speaker: Georgia is the scholarly communications advisor for the University of Texas at Austin Libraries, where she focuses on issues of digital access. She was senior attorney and manager of the intellectual property section of the Office of General Counsel for the University of Texas System until August 2006, and she currently represents the Office of General Counsel as outside counsel for copyright. Harper holds an undergraduate degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin as well as a J.D. from the University of Texas Law School. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in information studies at the University of Texas.Harper is author of an online publication, The Copyright Crash Course, that provides guidance to university faculty, students, and staff concerning a wide range of copyright issues and is freely accessible to all universities and colleges. |
11:30-1:00 p.m. |
Lunch |
1:00-1:45 p.m. |
Texas Digital Library ETD Management System (Vireo) Updates |
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Adam Mikeal, Texas A&M University Libraries, Digital Initiatives, Research & TechnologySession Description: Adam will present information and updates on Vireo, the Texas Digital Library’s ETD submission and management system. The presentation will include a brief overview of functionality; a report on the successes and lessons being learned as the system moves through beta testing to deployment at various institutions across the state; and, insights into future plans. About the Speaker: Adam is the lead developer and manager for the Texas Digital Library ETD Submission and Management System that many of us know as Vireo. He is also a researcher and programmer for the Digital Initiatives group at the Texas A&M University Libraries. He has given numerous presentations at various international conferences, including several regarding the development and deployment of Vireo, most notably at the International Symposia on Electronic Theses and Dissertations. About TDL: The Texas Digital Library is a consortium of universities organized to provide a single digital infrastructure for the scholarly activities of Texas universities. The four current Association of Research Libraries (ARL) universities and their systems comprise more than 40 campuses, 375,000 students, 30,000 faculty, and 100,000 staff; while non-ARL institutions represent another sizable addition in both students and faculty. TDL is currently comprised of eighteen member institutions of higher education; together representing 20% of the state’s four-year and health-related institutions of higher education. TDL’s principal collection is currently its federated collection of ETDs from three of the major institutions; The University of Texas, Texas A&M University, and Texas Tech University. To facilitate the creation of this federated collection, a common ETD management system was developed that could manage ETDs from the point of submission through publication. The ETD Dissertation Management System was implemented in a beta test phase in Spring 2008 at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. It has now been fully deployed at Texas A&M University and is being adopted by other state institutions through scaled implementation. |
1:45-2:00 p.m. |
Break |
2:00-2:45 p.m. |
2009 ProQuest Update |
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David Mendez, Ph.D., Director, Dissertations Publishing, ProQuest/UMI.Session Description: David will present the latest information on ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses Publishing Program, including the free ETD Administrator system and other improvements. ProQuest/UMI has been publishing dissertations since 1938 and is proud to continue this service to the author and graduate school community. About the Speaker: David Mendez, Ph.D., is currently the Director of Dissertations Publishing at ProQuest/UMI. He received his B.A. in biology from the University of Puerto Rico and earned both his M.A. and Ph.D. in science education from New York University. He worked six years at the University of Texas at Austin, serving much of that time as associate director of the Equal Opportunity in Engineering Program and as an academic advisor at the office of student affairs. Over the years, he led several academic enrichment, outreach, leadership, and professional development programs targeting minority students, including Rutgers University. He then served as Assistant Dean of Graduate Affairs at Princeton University and most recently as Dean of Graduate Student Affairs at Turabo University of Puerto Rico. |
2:45-3:45 p.m. |
Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) Update |
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Kristy Webber, Survey Director, NORC, Chicago, ILSession Description: Kristy will provide what’s new from Survey of Earned Doctorates. Special emphasis will be placed on the new online filing system for SEDs. Best practices for converting to the online version of the SED will be discussed, including how to maintain high response rates and what processes are in place to ensure a smooth transition. Other questions will be answer on the role of the SED institutional contact (IC), the various set-ups at the participating institutions (centralized, decentralized, etc.), some of the challenges facing the survey in this age of increased privacy concerns, and SED survey results. This talk will also present data from the 2007 round, including emerging trends in the characteristics of doctorate degree earners. Finally, the session will provide an opportunity to discuss challenges being faced by the graduate school representatives and how the SED can adapt and evolve to address those challenges. About the Speaker: Kristy Webber, Survey Director, NORC at the University of Chicago, is the Institutional Coordinator for the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). She works directly with the administrators and graduate school staff who distribute the SED to provide support in their role as SED the contact. She is also the task manager for the online version of the SED. |
3:45-4:00 p.m. |
Closing and Evaluation |
Attendees should include Graduate School members, Librarians dealing with ETDs and technical staff interested in ETDs.
The Forum will be held in the A.C.E.S. Building on the University of Texas at Austin Campus (subject to change, pending number of attendees).
Meeting time will commence at 9:00 AM and last until 4:00 PM on May 26. Come prepared to discuss your institution’s unique challenges, find opportunities for partnership, learn how other universities are facing similar challenges and developing ways to address those challenges.