Enhancing the Visibility and Impact of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cathy Boylan, ProQuest and Dr Ian Rowlands, University of Leicester

Dissemination of scholarly knowledge – the basis for research that drives advances of all types in all fields – is in the midst of a major revolution.

The exponential increases in volume and accessibility of scholarly knowledge have been a great benefit, but have created new challenges for researchers in terms of discovering relevant information. Authors and universities are also faced with the daunting task of ensuring their research is discoverable in the increasing mass of information available online. This co-presentation explores the twin aims of facilitating research and helping authors and universities to enhance the global visibility and discoverability of their ETDs. Dr Ian Rowlands, Research Services Manager & Bibliometrican at the University of Leicester, will discuss the ongoing project of digitising, and enhancing dissemination of, the University’s research. Cathy Boylan, Senior Manager, European Dissertations and Theses Publishing at ProQuest, will discuss dissemination, discoverability and the benefits to universities, research and researchers of widening the scope of ETD distribution. Topics explored will include unique value that theses offer for scholarly research and best practices for digitization, ETD distribution, author permission, retention of copyright, royalties, abstracting and indexing services, author impact metrics, and university impact metrics.
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