Tuesday, June 16, 2009

ETD2009 Closing Comments

ETD2009 co-chairs John Hagen and Rush Miller relax aboard the Gateway Clipper river boat dinner cruise, Friday, June 12th after a job well done!

"We would like to thank everyone who participated and helped to make this conference such a tremendous success. Participants from 23 nations helped to make this a truly global outreach event. Kudos to the staff of the University of Pittsburgh Library System, the West Virginia University Libraries, the NDLTD Board of Directors, sponsors and volunteers. We are proud to be advancing the future of scholarly communications, ETDs and open access. Together we are bridging the knowledge divide!"

- John Hagen and Rush Miller
Co-chairs, ETD2009 Conference

Monday, June 15, 2009

ETD2009 Conference Pix, Video, Comments & Tweets

ETD2009 Conference Pix, Video, Comments & Tweets
Check the sites below to view/download and/or upload your own pictures, videos, comments and tweets

Facebook NDLTD group site:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1357320300#/group.php?gid=19957635157

Flickr NDLTD group site:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ndltd/

ETD2009 Blog:
http://etd2009.blogspot.com/

ETD2009 Twitter site:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23etd09
Send Tweets to #etd09

ETD2009 Conference Site
http://www.library.pitt.edu/etd2009/

Sunday, June 14, 2009

ETD2009: Closing Session


We heard about ETD2010 at the U. of Texas Austin and ETD2011 in South Africa. Tis the season to seek proposals for ETD2012, if you want to bring the international symposium to a campus near you!

Breakout Session 3C: Open Access- Continental Style














Moderator: John Hagen, WVU Libraries

Felix Ubogu (pictured, right), Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
ETD and Open Access Developments in South Africa and the SADC region

Henry Panganani Zulu, Mass Media Department, Northeast Normal University.
Digitalization of Masters Theses and PhD Dissertations at the Special Collectins of the University of Zambia Library: A study of the benefits of participating into the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.


Swarna Bandara, Head, Medical Library
Open Access: Latin-American Caribbean Style


Libio Huaroto, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Liliana Elespuru(pictured, left), Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
Cyberthesis style page application for producing digital theses in two Peruvian universities

Breakout Session 3B: Collaborations and Regional Approaches

Moderator: Susan Copeland, Robert Gordon University

Martin Moyle, UCL Library Services, UCL (University College London)


Getaneh Agegn Alemu, Tallinn University


Tukaram Kumbar(pictured), DA-IICT, Gandhinagar, INDIA

Friday a.m.: Breakout Session 3A: Global Outreach

Moderator: Edward Fox, NDLTD Director, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech



David Mendez, Director, UMI Dissertation Publishing




Michael Witt, Purdue University Libraries; Vijendra Purohit(pictured), Department of Computer Science, Purdue University


Denise Bedford, Kent State, World Bank

Friday, June 12, 2009

Friday: Global Outreach Plenary Panel

Bridging the Knowledge Divide - Expanding Global Open Access

Moderator: Frances O'Brien, Dean, WVU Libraries

Marc Goovaerts, Hasselt University LibraryOceanDocs and Open Science Directory: two facets of the information policy of UNESCO/IOC-IODE

Michelle Rago, Library of Congress, World Digital Library (pictured)
World Digital Library


Jason Phillips, JSTOR
Developing Nations Access Initiative

African Century for ETD Movement

Now that we look forward to ETD2011 in South Africa, we also look forward to the ETD leaders that have either emerged or will emerge in the African Century Cooperation, friendship, and commitment will be one of the crucial ingredients.

Friday Morning Kickoff: Steve O'Connor Plenary

Steve O'Connor from Hong Kong Polytechnic University was featured as the ETD2009 Global Outreach Featured Speaker, sharing many impressions of the state of open access and institutional growth in China.

Thursday PM: Dinner Banquet at Carnegie Music Hall

The NDLTD Band, featuring John Hagen and Friends


Shirley Stewart Burns accepting her Award and singing "Leave those mountains down!"


John Hagen accepting his ETD Leadership Award


ETD delegates take to the floor...


Thursday- Posters / Technology Fair Exhibits




Anne Marie Taber, UNCG LibrariesMary Early, UNCG Graduate SchoolCurrent ETD practices and workflows in North Carolina







Plato Smith, Florida State UniverstiyETDs, IRs, Collaborations, and Access at Florida State University







Jan Mach, library, University of Economics in PragueIva Horová, library, Academy of Performing Arts in PragueNational repositories of ETDs and Grey Literature in Czech Republic



Thursday: New Trends Plenary Panel

Moderator: Vinod Chachra, VTLS

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database User Survey: The first large-scale survey of dissertation information seeking behavior
Amanda Ross, ProQuest LLC

Students as Advocates
Julia Blixrud (pictured), Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)

The Semantic Electronic Scientific Thesis
Peter Murray-Rust, Unilever Centre, Department of Chemistry,University of Cambridge, UK

Send your conference pictures and video to us

We are preparing a slide show of photographs and video that document the ETD2009 Conference. We are asking that anyone who has taken pictures or video of conference activities to send them by email to John.Hagen@mail.wvu.edu. We will run the slide show for the closing session at the end of today (Friday, June 12th). Thanks to everyone for helping to make this a successful event!

- John Hagen
ETD2009 Conference Co-Chair

Thursday- Platforms/Demos Plenary Panel


Moderator: Peter Schirmbacher, Humboldt University


OpenThesis.org: A Universal ETD Database with Search, Organization, Collaboration & Print Capabilities
James Ryley, Founder & President, OpenThesis.org, Patents Online, LLC

NDLTD Union Catalog / VTLS Visualizer
Vinod Chachra, VTLS



Topical Categorization of Large Collections of Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Edward Fox, NDLTD Director, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech
Venkat Srinivasan, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech

Thursday Networking Lunch

ETD2009's first networking lunch was held at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association (PAA), featuring a welcome address from Eric Reeves of Patents Online/OpenThesis and a relocated plenary address by Deanna Marcum from the Library of Congress














Thursday, June 11, 2009

Breakout Session 2C: Open Access

(Tracy Kent, University of Birmingham)

Moderator: Julia Blixrud, Association of Research Libraries


Simon Bevan, Cranfield University, UK*Paul Needham, Cranfield University, UK


Anthony Troman, British LibraryTracy Kent, University of BirminghamSimon Bevan, University of CranfieldSusan Copeland, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

Breakout session 2B: Collaborations

Moderator: Suzie Allard, University of Tenessee (pictured)

Angela McCutcheon, Ohio University, Graduate College


Keith Garbutt, The Honors College, West Virginia UniversityMolly Simis, The Honors College, West Virginia University


Max Read, Faculty of Graduate Studies, the University of British ColumBronwen Sprout, UBC Library, the University of British Columbia (Canada)

Breakout Session 2A: New Trends

(Samrat Sarovar)


Breakout Session 2A: New Trends- Moderator: Ana Pavani, PUC- Rio
Repository Innovation And Preservation





Adam Mikeal, Texas A&M University LibrariesLaura Hammons, Texas A&M University Thesis Office


ETD Management in DSpace: A Report from the Texas ETD Repository Project





Bill Donovan, Boston College Libraries


Implementing ETD Submission at Boston College



Martin Halbert, Woodruff Library, Emory UniversityGail McMillan, Digital Library and Archives, Virginia Tech


Getting ETDs off the Calf-Path: Digital Preservation Readiness for Growing ETD Collections and Distributed Preservation Networks





Samrat Sarovar, Graduate student, Mechanical Engineering, WVUVictor Mucino, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, WVU


Framing Digital Assests into Context: A Preservation Study in the Design of a Cryogenic Pressure Vessel Using "STEP Documentation"

Thursday Plenary Session: Publishing, Open Access & ETDs

Patrick Conner from West Virginia University presented a plenary panel of speakers on Publishing, Open Access & ETDs

  • Rush Miller (University of Pittsburgh)
  • Shirley Stewart Burns / Ph.D. History, West Virginia University
  • Daniel Ferreras, West Virginia University

  • Stay tuned for a web video on this presentation.

    Thursday Plenary Session: Karla Hahn

    Karla Hahn from RLG presented a wake-up paper on Scholarly Communications in the Digital Millenium. You can read more about Karla in an earlier blogpost.

    Thursday Schedule !

    Program for Thursday
    8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. New Trends Keynote Address
    Introduction: Patricia Beeson, University of Pittsburgh Vice Provost for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies
    Broadening Dissemination of New Knowledge: Scholarly Communicationsin the Digital Millennium
    Karla Hahn, Association of Research Libraries (ARL)

    9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
    Open Access Publishing Featured Speaker / Plenary Panel
    Publishing, Open Access & ETDs:A Panel Session on Student, Faculty & Publisher Perspectives
    » Moderator: Patrick Conner, West Virginia University Press / Dept. of English

    10:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Break

    11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
    Breakout Session 2A: New Trends
    Repository Innovation And Preservation
    » Moderator: Ana Pavani, PUC- Rio

    Breakout Session 2B: Collaborations
    Inter/Intra Departmental Cooperation
    Room B (Ballroom)
    » Moderator: Suzie Allard, University of Tenessee

    Breakout Session 2C: Open Access
    The Future of Open Access
    Room C (Kurtzman Room)
    » Moderator: Julia Blixrud, Association of Research Libraries

    12:45 p.m. - 2 p.m.
    Networking Lunch Pittsburgh Athletic Association (PAA)
    » Welcome Address: Eric Reeves, Patents Online / OpenThesis

    2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
    New Trends Keynote Address
    » Introduction: Ronald L. Larsen, Dean and Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
    Preservation in the Digital Age: A Moral and Legal Obligation
    » Deanna Marcum, Library of Congress

    3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
    Platforms/Demos Plenary Panel
    » Moderator: Peter Schirmbacher, Humboldt University
    OpenThesis.org: A Universal ETD Database with Search, Organization, Collaboration & Print Capabilities
    » James Ryley, Founder & President, OpenThesis.org, Patents Online, LLC
    NDLTD Union Catalog / VTLS Visualizer
    » Vinod Chachra, VTLS
    Topical Categorization of Large Collections of Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    » Edward Fox, NDLTD Director, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech
    » Venkat Srinivasan, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech

    4 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Break

    4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
    New Trends Plenary Panel
    » Moderator: Vinod Chachra, VTLS
    ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database User Survey: The first large-scale survey of dissertation information seeking behavior
    » Amanda Ross, ProQuest LLC
    Students as Advocates
    » Julia Blixrud, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
    The Semantic Electronic Scientific Thesis
    » Peter Murray-Rust, Unilever Centre, Department of Chemistry,University of Cambridge, UK

    5:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
    Posters / Technology Fair Exhibits
    Lower Lounge

    5:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
    Break

    6:30 p.m. - 11 p.m.
    Conference Dinner Banquet Carnegie Music Hall
    » Musical Entertainment by WVU “Samba Nova Quartet”

    ETD Awards Presentation
    » Moderator: Christine Jewell, NDLTD Awards Committee Chair
    Dinner / ProQuest Welcome Address

    Breakout 1C: ETD Efficiencies and Lessons

    Martin Courtois (Pictured) from the Kansas State University Libraryconcluded the breakout session on ETD Efficiencies and Lessons, describing his own institutions efficiencies and productivity improvements while expanding their ETD collection. Prior to Martin, Christine Smith and Jane Champagne presented the University at Albany(NY) transition from paper to digital thesis submission, Janet Lee-Smeltzer from the University of Alabama Library reviewed their experience with the Proquest Dissertation Publishing system, and Christine Jewell from the University of Waterloo presented a description of their academic integrity online module targeting graduate students submitting ETDs.

    Breakout session 1B: Open Access- Journeys from Obscurity to Visibility

    Ana Pavani (pictured) analyzed her Pontificia Universidad Catolica do Rio de Janeiro ETD repository from the perspective of those ETDs with Restricted Access. During the same session Terry Owen from the University of Maryland discussed trends in ETD embargos, Ursula Goldsmith from Louisiana State University described her thesis study on faculty perception of ETD submission, Peter Schirmbacher from Humbolt Univerity Berlin described the metamorphosis of an ETD collection to an open access repository, and Agnes Chikonzo from the University of Zimbabwe portrayed the opportunities and obstacles of enhancing local content such as ETDs in a developing country.

    Wednesday, June 10, 2009

    Breakout session 1A: Platforms/Demos

    Sophie Bogdanski (pictured) from the Marshall University Library presented with the Robert Gordon University Library's Susan Copeland on special issues facing small and medium size institutions planning, implementing, and managing institutional repositories containing ETDs. The presenters consider the results of recent studies including the findings of parallel surveys undertaken in the US and in the UK in 2007 and the JISC funded ‘EMBED’ project in the UK which concludes in 2009.

    This breakout session also featured Kathy Fletcher from the University of West Virginia presenting their expansion of online training materials for their ETD training program to include demonstrations and simulation exercises on how to create and modify Adobe PDF files, Gordon Ernst presented the WVU migration from its homegrown eIDR ETD system to a new ExLibris DigiTool system named WVU Scholar, and Michael Kaplan of Ex Libris presenting the dynamic growth of their DigiTool product by showcasing ETD sites making use of their productivity platform.

    NDLTD Welcome- Ed Fox

    Ed Fox, NDLTD Director, presented his welcome remarks, including a "wish list" for ETD global awareness and repository expansion.

    ETD2009 Welcome

    The Audience








    The Band










    The Welcome from the U. of Pittsburgh, Provost James Maher














    The Welcome from the U. of West Virginia, Provost E. Jane Martin

    Opening Words: John Hagen

    The University of West Virginia's John Hagen also welcomed the delgates on behalf of his university, after showing some interesting videos.....

    Opening Words: Rush Miller

    Rush Miller, Hillman University Librarian for the University of Pittsburgh, welcomed the delegates.

    Opening Plenary: Stevan Harnad

    Although Stevan Harnad was scheduled to kick off ETD2009, his arrival was delayed, and his anticipated presentation was delayed until after the first set of breakouts. Of course, patience was rewarded, and Dr. Harnad presented the full-court press inevitability of an open access world, based on his recommendation of stages like green or pale green versions of authors self-depositing their own papers in institutional repositories. Oh, yes, he also dismissed recent efforts of gold access as impractical and ineffective. A youtube version of his talk will be online in the near future.

    Preconference- Adobe Acrobat 9

    Timother Plumer from Adobe Systems presenting an explanation of features and effective usage practices for the Adobe Acrobat Preconference workshop.

    Preconference- ETDs for Rookies

    Felix Ubogu, from the University of the Witwatersrand, presenting the spread of ETD expertise in Africa for the ETD for Rookies presentation. Convener for this session John Hagen is approaching a microphone in the front of the room.

    Preconference on ETD preservation

    Gail MacMillan (left) discussing preservation standards and best (effective) practices during the break at Wednesday morning's pre-conference preservation workshop.

    Registration Desk

    The Registration Desk staff (Heidi Card and Crystal McCormick) supply the conference check-in support, making sure all the delegates receive an accurate name badge, receipts, conference bag, program, etc.

    Tuesday, June 9, 2009

    Tweat about the ETD2009 Conference

    Send us your tweats about the ETD2009 Conference to #etd09
    Let's twitter away!

    Monday, June 8, 2009

    Wednesday, June 10- Conference Day 1 Preview

    The University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University are pleased to sponsor the 12th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations from June 10 – June 13, 2009 and wish to welcome you to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
    The Conference takes place at the William Pitt Union, across the street from the Cathedral of Learning.
    The list of conference delegates registered will let you prepare to greet many memorable collegues and new friends that have joined the ETD international movement. You can find the first day schedule here.

    Highlights include:
    Pre-conference workshops for/on newcomers, preservation, and Adobe Acrobat 9

    Lunch

    Opening Session Welcome

    Stevan Harnad's Keynote on Open Access

    Poster session/technology fair

    Breakout sessions

    Daniel Ferreras's featured talk

    Welcome Reception (6-9pm)

    Featured Speaker: Steve O’Connor

    Steve O’Connor is the University Librarian, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has held a number of equivalent posts in tertiary education in Australia and, as the Chief Executive Officer of CAVAL Collaborative Solutions Ltd, developed, managed projects and programs to serve the library industry. Currently, O’Connor is focused on the creation of new and sustainable business models for the future of libraries. He is also the Editor of the international, peer-reviewed journal, Library Management and the Library Management China.

    O’Connor has extensive experience in managing large and small organisations, both income and expenditure-based. His work demonstrates a research and futures focus, which has been developed to ensure library and information services achieve relevant, efficient and cost-beneficial outcomes for all stakeholders. Steve has researched, published, spoken, consulted and taught extensively in the areas of change, organisational management, information delivery, collection transition, scenario and strategic planning, and the wider library and information environment. He enjoys foundational and critical ongoing involvement in the development and implementation of digital information services, and in the provision of consortia strategies for service and financial improvement.

    Featured Speaker: Patrick Conner

    Patrick Conner is the Eberly College Centennial Professor in the Humanities and a professor of English at West Virginia University. As Director of the WVU Press from 1999 to 2008, he established best procedures for university presses in acquiring titles and marketing books which had not been pursued heretofore by the WVU Press and was responsible for creating unique imprints in both Appalachian and Medieval studies to bring greater recognition to WVU’s research mission, particularly as it impacted Appalachian culture. Conner has been a long-term supporter of open access ETDs, and he is experienced in publishing ETDs as commercial monographs, as well.

    He acquired Shirley Burns open access history doctoral dissertation, and assigned appropriate editors to bring it into the now popular book Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal on Southern West Virginia Communities, which has been of immense value to persons concerned with approaches to the conjunction of mining and the environment. His own scholarship embraces early medieval studies and humanities computing. Conner won awards for his development of the Beowulf Workstation, and he founded ANSAXNET, perhaps the earliest discussion group dedicated to early medieval literary subjects. Conner knows what English professors, playwrights, and poets do when they understand computers and take them seriously in their professions.

    Sunday, June 7, 2009

    Getting around (and getting to) ETD2009


    Check out the Google Map for ETD2009. There is a travel page on the conference website to get you from the airport to the campus location.

    Featured Speaker: Daniel Ferreras

    Daniel Ferreras is an associate professor of French, Spanish and Comparative Literatures at West Virginia University. His work on the Fantastic, the detective story, marginalized genres, and popular culture issues has appeared in French Literature Series, Hispania, Política, Lectura y signo, Excavatio and Popular Culture Review, and he’s the author of Lo fantástico en la literatura y en el cine (Vosa, 1996) and Cuentos de la mano izquierda (Silente, 1999).
    A long-time advocate for open digital communication, he was the first faculty member from the WVU Department of Foreign Languages to direct a thesis under the electronic submission mandate nearly a decade ago and he is an active member of the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation / Institutional Repository Task Force, as well as a faculty spokesperson for the SPARC “Create Change” program. Dr. Ferreras has participated in several ETD conferences and seminars, providing a unique faculty perspective on fundamental issues concerning the digital library and the reception as well as the future of scholarly communications.

    Friday, June 5, 2009

    ETD2009- Conference Tracks














    Get the most out of your ETD2009 experience by following your favorite theme "track" color on the program schedule posted to the ETD2009 website.
    • Open Access
    • New Trends
    • Platforms and Demos
    • Global Outreach
    • Collaborations

    Keynote Speaker: Karla Hahn

    Karla Hahn is the Director of the Office of Scholarly Communication at the Association of Research Libraries, a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries at comprehensive, research-extensive institutions in the US and Canada. It has a long history of leadership in promoting positive change in the scholarly communication system. Key focuses of current activity include the assessment and implementation of new scholarly communication models; the development of alliances to advance of new systems of scholarly communication; and advancement of library outreach efforts to inform the educational and research communities on issues relating to scholarly communication.

    Hahn holds both an MLS and a PhD and has published extensively on issues relating to publishing, electronic communication and libraries.