Electronic Submission, Delivery and Storage of ETDs at UMI

ECURE 2001
Preservation and Access for Electronic College and University Records
October 13, 2001
Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa
Mesa, AZ 85210

Bill Savage
UMI Dissertations Publishing
University of Michigan
bill.savage@il.proquest.com

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Background

• UMI has been performing collection, cataloging for access and conversion to microform for over sixty years.
• Over 40,000 US dissertations received each year on paper.
• Another 11,000 paper manuscripts are received from the National Library of Canada.

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Background

• Nearly 700 institutions submit dissertations on a regular basis.
• 1.6 million citations in the Dissertation Abstracts database.
• Over 1 million dissertation titles available in full text.

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Background

• UMI maintains and preserves this dissertation collection on microfilm and microfiche.
• Microform stored in separate temperature and humidity controlled vaults.
• On-demand duplication and distribution in paper and microform.
• Since 1997, reformatting into TIFF images wrapped in PDF.

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Nature of the Dissertation

• General agreement that it should be an original and significant contribution to knowledge.
• The Council of Graduate Schools notes that the dissertation should serve as a demonstration that the student can perform at a professional level in his/her area of specialization.

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Nature of the Dissertation

• From the perspective of an individual institution, dissertations represent part of the historical record of graduate education at the institution and part of the fund of intellectual property created by the institution.
• From a national perspective, the body of dissertation literature forms part of the history of graduate education in the country.

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Nature of the Dissertation

• A dissertation may be part of a student’s records.

“ANY RECORD, WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, MAINTAINED BY AN INSTITUTION THAT IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO A STUDENT OR STUDENTS. THIS RECORD CAN CONTAIN A STUDENT'S NAME, OR STUDENTS’ NAMES OR INFORMATION FROM WHICH AN INDIVIDUAL STUDENT, OR STUDENTS, CAN BE PERSONALLY (INDIVIDUALLY) IDENTIFIED THESE RECORDS INCLUDE: FILES, DOCUMENTS, AND MATERIALS IN WHATEVER MEDIUM (HANDWRITING, PRINT, TAPES, DISKS, FILM, MICROFILM, MICROFICHE) WHICH CONTAIN INFORMATION DIRECTLY RELATED TO STUDENTS AND FROM WHICH STUDENTS CAN BE PERSONALLY (INDIVIDUALLY) IDENTIFIED.”

Richard Rainsberger, FERPA in the Digital Age: What You Need to Know, ECURE, 2000

• One-of-a-kind documents.

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The Changing Environment

• Expectation that paper will remain the preferred distribution medium for at least another 3 - 5 years.
• ETDs received from about 5% of submitting institutions.
• 35 institutions submit some or all of their dissertations in digital format through various delivery means.( FTP, downloads, CD-ROM, e-mail)

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The Changing Environment

• Early submissions limited to plain text in digital format.
• Now, increased usage of graphs and charts. Over 70% of current digital submissions contain some graphical elements.

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The Changing Environment

• Increased use of multi-media, particularly video.
• Very large files.
• Each document is unique.
• Discipline specific attributes
• Challenges of access, delivery and long term storage.

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Managing Access

DAI Citation

Title: Mapping artifacts on the frontier of ancient China: An approach to study of the Yan mountainous area in the eastern Zhou period (8th--3rd centuries BC)
Order No: 9985056
Author: Li, Jian-jing
Degree: PhD
Corporate Source/Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Date: 2000
Pages: 143
Advisor: Linduff, Katheryn M.
ISBN: 0-599-92061-0
Source: DAI-A 61/08, p. 2959, Feb 2001
Descriptors: ART HISTORY; HISTORY, ASIA, AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
Descriptor Codes: 0377; 0332

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Managing Access

Abstract:

Study of the late Zhou period in China has concentrated on analysis of the agrarian-based states. Interaction between those who constituted the Chinese dynastic states and pastoral peoples on the periphery of them were often described in hostile or colonial terms. With only the official histories as guides, an explanation that drew strict boundaries between them prevailed until the late 20th century. With increased archaeological information documenting activity outside of dynastic centers, the former interpretation can be tested. An alternative scenario at the frontier is proposed here.

Study of artifacts, their disposition and cultural use have provided the basic tool for identifying distinctive life ways and affiliations. Both Chinese and frontier burial materials and practices have been researched and interpreted with knowledge of and comparison to other border societies and theory about frontiers and their function in relation to a central political unit. Focus is on the Yan Mountain region and its relation to the Zhou vassal state of Yan in northeast China.

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Managing Access

This study shows that both the Shanrong group of the Yan Mountain region and the Yan State had their own distinctive social order, cultural traditions and economic bases. Those are marked in the burial assemblages, tomb structures and architectural remains, suggesting that Shanrong was a pastoral and warrior society and was clearly different from the agrarian society of the Yan State. On the one hand, these differences contributed to the formation of an ethnic and cultural boundary; but on the other hand, these different modes of subsistence encouraged them to complement each other functionally, thus making the Shanrong part of a larger social complex.

This case study demonstrates that the boundary between the Shanrong and the Yan State was fluid and was based on need. Interactions in trade, war and colonization occurring in the frontier zone exhibit evidence of the change through time. Technical and ecological factors stimulated a transformation of the structure of interchange on the pastoral/agricultural frontier. In addition, the elite groups from the Yan State and the Shanrong both played significant roles during the process, indicating that political authority still deeply influenced their interactions. Finally, inter-group contacts infused energy into the area and led these two groups to incorporate into a unified, multicultural Chinese kingdom.

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Managing Access

DAI Citation

Data Element Chart

Tag 001 005 008 020 035 040 100 242 245 300

Description Publication number/order number Date and time of latest transaction Fixed length data elements ISBN System control number Cataloging source Main author English translation of foreign title Title statement Number of pages

Start Date * January, 1998 for DAI DAI-C Spring 1988

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Managing Access

DAI Citation

Data Element Chart

Tag 500 500 500 502 506 520 535

Description General note (Source) General note (Publisher) General note (Advisor) Dissertation note Restrictions on access note Abstract of dissertation Location of copy

Start Date * DAI-C only January 1988 for DAI July 1980, for DAI July 1988 for MAI DAI-C Spring 1988

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Managing Access

DAI Citation

Tag 590 650 690 700 710 740 773 790 790 791 792 793

Description Local note (School code) Subject term Subject code Added entry - Multiple Author Added entry - Corporate name Added entry - Variant title Host item entry Added entry - School Code Degree name Degree date Language of dissertation

Start Date * Advisor name Jan 1989 July 1992 for DAI

* All fields listed are valid for all records in the database, covering all dates from 1861 forward with the exception of those so described in the start date column.

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Dublin Core Elements

DAI Citation

Title Creator Subject Description Publisher Contributor Date Type

Rights Format Identifier Source Language Relation Coverage

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Delivery

• Since 1997, paper submissions have been reformatted into TIFF images and wrapped in PDF for delivery.
• Over 260,000 reformatted titles available.

Delivery

• Digital submissions limited to Adobe PDF with exceptions for CD-ROM applications.
• Multi-media elements limited to ubiquitous applications. (.mov, .avi, .mpg, .snd, .wav, etc.)
• Over 1,300 live digital titles available.

Delivery

Year	Sessions	Searches	Downloads
1999	253,192	838,379	26,023
2000	448,933	1,551,106	66,183
2001*	409,397	1,420,868	93,961

*	through august, 2001

• Sessions originated from over 1,200 institutions, downloads to over 700 institutions.

Delivery

• Downloads include free return access to submitting institutions, individual purchases, and full text subscriptions.
• 28 institutions with full text subscriptions including Harvard (3,300), U Toronto(4,600), NYU(2,200), U Texas-Austin(6,300), U Pittsburgh (7,000), and U Phoenix (4,600).*
  *through August, 2001

Delivery

• The Library of Congress receives access to the full Dissertation Abstracts database and the complete collection of digital dissertations.

Year	Sessions	Searches	Downloads
1999	1,943	7,507	1,813
2000	3,235	12,977	2,303
2001*	2,239	9,853	3,902

*	through August, 2001

Storage

• Challenge to develop a flexible archiving system, responsive to changing storage and distribution technologies and emerging standards.
• At the same time, it is necessary to continue support of established technologies.

Storage

• All reformatted paper submissions stored on CD-ROM and microform.
• All digital submissions stored on separate media.
  • Primary storage: spinning disk
  • Redundancy through CD-ROM and magnetic tape

Storage

• Printable elements (text and graphics) reformatted onto microform.
  • Image Graphics E-Beam camera captures digital input and reformats to silver-halide microfiche.

Storage

Data Refreshing:

• Regularly scheduled sampling of files using creation date as sampling key.
• Read error triggers a survey of all files in date range and physical proximity.
• File recovery from reserve storage and replacement of corrupted files.

Storage

Migration:

• Hardware and software capitalized over a 3-5 year schedule of planned obsolescence.
• Business plans reviewed every three years to determine if technological change requires earlier replacement.

Questions for the Very Near Future

• Websites as dissertations
  • What is archived?
  • How is it archived?
  • Links?
  • How to provide access?
• Multi-media dissertations

Questions for the Very Near Future

• XML DTD
  • One size fits all or discipline specific?
  • Standardization vs. Uniqueness
• Library of Congress Subject Headings
  • LC has introduced a web-based LCSH utility. Can it be used to enhance MARC records?

Contact Info

Bill Savage
UMI Dissertations Publishing
bill.savage@il.proquest.com
bsavage@umi.com
1-800-521-0600 ext. 6726

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