Katherine Skinner
Matt Schultz
Sam Meister
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Nick Krabbenhoeft
Dr. Tyler Walters (Dean of Libraries, Virginia Tech)
Michael Witt (Purdue University, Interdisciplinary Research Librarian)
Christopher “Cal” Lee (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science)
Gail McMillan (Virginia Tech, Director of Digital Research & Scholarship Services)
Kathleen Shearer (Confederation of Open Access Research, Executive Director)
Dwayne K. Buttler (University of Louisville, Evelyn J. Schneider Endowed Chair for Scholarly Communication)
Amy Jo Barton (Purdue University Libraries, Metadata Specialist)
Holly Mercer (University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries, Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Research Services)
Chris Eaker (University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries, Data Curation Librarian)
Carly Dearborn (Purdue University Libraries, Digital Preservation & Electronic Records Archivist)
Gabrielle Michalek (Carnegie Mellon University, Head of Archives & Digital Library Initiatives)
Michael Boock (Oregon State University, Head of Center for Digital Scholarship and Services)
Mike Furlough (Penn State University, Associate Dean for Research & Scholarly Communications)
Austin McClean (ProQuest, Director of Scholarly Communication and Dissertation Publishing)
Dr. Martin Halbert (UNT, Dean of Libraries and Associate Professor)
Joe Swanson, Jr. (Morehouse College, Director of Morehouse School of Medicine Library)
Zhiwu Xie (University Libraries Virginia Tech, Associate Professor & Technology Development Librarian)
Rachel Howard (University of Louisville, Digital Initiatives Librarian)
Cinda May (Indiana State University, Associate Librarian & Public Historian)
Carnegie Mellon University
Colorado State University
Indiana State University
Morehouse School of Medicine
Oregon State University
Penn State University
Purdue University
ProQuest
University of Louisville
University of North Carolina School of Library and Information Science
University of North Texas
University of Tennessee Knoxville
Virginia Tech University
Katherine Skinner
Matt Schultz
Sam Meister
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Nick Krabbenhoeft
Dr. Tyler Walters (Dean of Libraries, Virginia Tech)
Michael Witt (Purdue University, Interdisciplinary Research Librarian)
Christopher “Cal” Lee (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science)
Gail McMillan (Virginia Tech, Director of Digital Research & Scholarship Services)
Kathleen Shearer (Confederation of Open Access Research, Executive Director)
Dwayne K. Buttler (University of Louisville, Evelyn J. Schneider Endowed Chair for Scholarly Communication)
Amy Jo Barton (Purdue University Libraries, Metadata Specialist)
Holly Mercer (University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries, Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Research Services)
Chris Eaker (University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries, Data Curation Librarian)
Carly Dearborn (Purdue University Libraries, Digital Preservation & Electronic Records Archivist)
Gabrielle Michalek (Carnegie Mellon University, Head of Archives & Digital Library Initiatives)
Michael Boock (Oregon State University, Head of Center for Digital Scholarship and Services)
Mike Furlough (Penn State University, Associate Dean for Research & Scholarly Communications)
Austin McClean (ProQuest, Director of Scholarly Communication and Dissertation Publishing)
Dr. Martin Halbert (UNT, Dean of Libraries and Associate Professor)
Joe Swanson, Jr. (Morehouse College, Director of Morehouse School of Medicine Library)
Zhiwu Xie (University Libraries Virginia Tech, Associate Professor & Technology Development Librarian)
Rachel Howard (University of Louisville, Digital Initiatives Librarian)
Cinda May (Indiana State University, Associate Librarian & Public Historian)
Carnegie Mellon University
Colorado State University
Indiana State University
Morehouse School of Medicine
Oregon State University
Penn State University
Purdue University
ProQuest
University of Louisville
University of North Carolina School of Library and Information Science
University of North Texas
University of Tennessee Knoxville
Virginia Tech University
The ETDplus project (2014-2017) built on the momentum of the earlier Lifecycle Management of ETDs project to research and build tools to help manage a growing challenge in ETD programs: the creation and submission of materials beyond the PDF of a electronic thesis or dissertation. Ranging from research data sets to video installations, from websites to music recitals, these digital objects are pieces of intellectual work that cannot be captured in words alone.
The project has produced guidance documentation, workshop materials, and software tools for students and staff to use in managing these complex digital objects.
Click on a section below to explore.
Colleges and universities and the programs responsible for managing the submission, archiving, and dissemination of electronic theses & dissertations (ETDs) increasingly are concerned about administering and making available the research datasets and complex digital objects (multimedia files, software, etc.) that often accompany these scholarly works.
These assets represent a rich source of information that can help to substantiate the dissertation and provide assurance that the foundation for replicable research is available for future researchers. These datasets and complex digital objects are also of great value and interest to libraries seeking to advance their missions in the digital age. ETD datasets and complex digital objects however, do pose curation and preservation challenges for institutions in terms of the viability of formats, file sizes, accessibility rights, dissemination pathways, and change-management issues. Recent reports, workshop evaluations, projects, surveys, and focus groups have indicated that U.S. colleges, universities and ETD/IR programs of all sizes are requesting and in need of generalized yet adaptable guidance documentation, shared curation technologies, and corresponding training materials to bridge the preservation and curation gap for these valued scholarly assets.
Educopia, in partnership with University of North Texas, and in concert with the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), HBCU Alliance, bepress, ProQuest, and the libraries of Virginia Tech, University of Tennessee, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, Oregon State, Penn State, Morehouse, University of Louisville, and Indiana State propose a two-year project to improve ETD policies and practices around research data and complex digital object management nationally. The project will answer the question: How will institutions ensure the longevity and availability of ETD research data and complex digital objects (e.g., software, multimedia files) that comprise an integral component of student theses and dissertations?
Colleges and universities and the programs responsible for managing the submission, archiving, and dissemination of electronic theses & dissertations (ETDs) increasingly are concerned about administering and making available the research datasets and complex digital objects (multimedia files, software, etc.) that often accompany these scholarly works.
These assets represent a rich source of information that can help to substantiate the dissertation and provide assurance that the foundation for replicable research is available for future researchers. These datasets and complex digital objects are also of great value and interest to libraries seeking to advance their missions in the digital age. ETD datasets and complex digital objects however, do pose curation and preservation challenges for institutions in terms of the viability of formats, file sizes, accessibility rights, dissemination pathways, and change-management issues. Recent reports, workshop evaluations, projects, surveys, and focus groups have indicated that U.S. colleges, universities and ETD/IR programs of all sizes are requesting and in need of generalized yet adaptable guidance documentation, shared curation technologies, and corresponding training materials to bridge the preservation and curation gap for these valued scholarly assets.
Educopia, in partnership with University of North Texas, and in concert with the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), HBCU Alliance, bepress, ProQuest, and the libraries of Virginia Tech, University of Tennessee, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, Oregon State, Penn State, Morehouse, University of Louisville, and Indiana State propose a two-year project to improve ETD policies and practices around research data and complex digital object management nationally. The project will answer the question: How will institutions ensure the longevity and availability of ETD research data and complex digital objects (e.g., software, multimedia files) that comprise an integral component of student theses and dissertations?
The ETD+ Virtual Workshop Series, taught by Dr. Katherine Skinner, is a set of free introductory training resources on crucial data curation and digital longevity techniques.
Focusing on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) as a mile-marker in a student’s research trajectory, it provides in-time advice to students and faculty about avoiding common digital loss scenarios for the ETD and all of its affiliated files. Published 28 November 2017, the series consists of an open set of six webcasts, plus guidance briefs, slideshows, and handouts for each of six topics: Copyright, Data Organization, File Formats, Metadata, Storage, and Version Control. Each of these webcasts can stand alone, and these are not designed to be taken in a particular order.
Access the materials now using the links below:
Copyright
The Copyright workshop addresses the basics of copyright and how it relates to the research outputs students produce. Discussion topics include how decisions you make about your own copyright may impact the future of your own research outputs; how copyright affects different content types; how copyright may impact how you include others’ works within your own (including those you have previously published); and the range of Creative Commons licenses that are available as an option for declaring your intentions as an author.
Data Organization
The Data Organization workshop covers data management principles and data organization standards. Discussion topics include techniques and resources you may use to ensure your data will be readable and understandable in the future; where students can look for field-specific guidance about analysis methods, services, tools, and repositories; and the roles played by common tools such as data dictionaries and readme files.
File Formats
The File Formats workshop will help students think through the pros and cons of different file formats in terms of file longevity and accessibility. Discussion topics include file format risk factors; resources and options to guide file format selection; the differences between proprietary and open formats; the usefulness of different formats in different disciplinary contexts; and how to save final versions of content in multiple formats in order to mitigate risk.
Metadata
The Metadata workshop covers the basics of metadata in the context of ETDs and their affiliated research outputs (e.g., datasets, a/v recordings, code, etc.). Discussion topics include how to employ good practices in metadata creation; where to find and edit/repair auto-generated metadata; and how to build and use an inventory to record additional metadata about supplementary files.
Storage
The Storage workshop provides an overview of storage options and provides guidance to students about how to optimize storage to improve the longevity and accessibility of their research outputs. Discussion topics include how to pick storage types (and how many to pick!); risk factors impacting storage and how to mitigate them; how to create back-ups and address security concerns; and tools that aid in managing stored files over time.
Version Control
The Version Control workshop discusses the fundamentals of version control, or the process of managing changes to files over time. Discussion topics include versioning and revision histories; naming conventions and folder/directory structures; and tools promoting version control (e.g., Git and Subversion).
Who these workshops are for:
Anyone may freely use these materials. We especially recommend their use by students seeking practical advice about digital content management and by administrators, faculty, and librarians teaching students these skills.
Give us feedback:
Like the modules? Hate them? Think they’re unique? Redundant? Because these materials have been produced under a grant-funded project, we are requesting feedback that we can share with our funder and that we can use to improve the Toolkit. Please help us to refine the workshops and report back to our funder about how and where they are being used. Please answer the surveys for each module, which are listed above (no more than 5 min each, we promise!).
The ETD+ Guidance Briefs are a set of free introductory training resources on crucial data curation and digital longevity techniques. Focusing on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) as a mile-marker in a student’s research trajectory, the series provides in-time advice to students and faculty about avoiding common digital loss scenarios for the ETD and all of its affiliated files.
The Guidance Briefs were produced by the ETDplus project (generously funded by the IMLS) and were authored by a team that includes representatives from the NDLTD, HBCU Alliance, bepress, ProQuest, and the libraries of Carnegie Mellon, Colorado State, Indiana State, Morehouse, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, University of Louisville, University of Tennessee, the University of North Texas, and Virginia Tech. The Guidance Briefs were published on 28 October 2017.
The ETD+ Toolkit was designed by Educopia, the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, ProQuest, and 12 U.S. research libraries to help the academic community to train students to ensure the longevity and accessibility of their research outputs. Its purpose is to train students to manage their research outputs, including data, software code, audio video files, digital text, digital art, visualizations, and GIS datasets.
The toolkit provides real-time advice to students that will:
The Toolkit also contains resources to help administrators better understand the digital research outputs students are creating and assess what they need to collect and care for as part of the institutional memory.
The ETD+ Toolkit is an approach to improving student and faculty research output management. Focusing on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) as a mile-marker in a student’s research trajectory, it provides in-time advice to students and faculty about avoiding common digital loss scenarios for the ETD and all of its affiliated files.
The ETD+ Toolkit provides free introductory training resources on crucial data curation and digital longevity techniques. It has been designed as a training series to help students and faculty identify and offset risks and threats to their digital research footprints.
What it is:
An open set of six modules and evaluation instruments that prepare students to create, store, and maintain their research outputs on durable devices and in durable formats. Each is designed to stand alone; they may also be used as a series.
What each module includes:
Each module includes Learning Objectives, a one-page Handout, a Guidance Brief, a Slideshow with full presenter notes, and an evaluation Survey. Each module is released under a CC-BY license and all elements are openly editable to make reuse as easy as possible.
Who it is for:
Anyone may freely adopt and adapt this toolkit. We especially recommend its use by administrators, faculty, and librarians teaching students and by students seeking practical advice about digital content management.
The ETDplus Workbench is a web based tool that is designed to assist students in preparing and packaging ETD supplementary materials for long-term preservation and access.
The Workbench includes configurable functions and features that integrate basic preservation actions such as virus scans, integrity checks, file format identification and validation, personally identifiable information scans, and metadata and versioning support into a simple data upload and review workflow. The tool also packages uploaded data and metadata as Bags that users can download and ingest into an array of repository and storage environments.
The ETDplus project designed and piloted the open source “ETDplus Workbench Tool for Preserving & Curating ETD Research Data & Complex Digital Objects” from July 25 – September 19, 2016. This pilot tool has been created in Hydra-Sufia (now Samvera-Sufia).
It is available for free download and use via GitHub:
The development of the Workbench tool has been led by the Digital Library Development Team from Virginia Tech University in collaboration with the Educopia Institute.Institutions should feel free to use, integrate, and implement this tool in whatever way works for their local audiences.
