At Western University and Eastern Illinois University they’re letting the numbers do the talking. Since digitizing their theses and dissertations workflow, the amount of time Western University’s graduate school Thesis Coordinator spends on the process has dropped from 350 hours a year all the way down to 24; freeing up 326 hours to spend on other projects. Since digitizing their collection at Eastern Illinois University, the number of Master’s theses in EIU’s repository represents 10% of content, but accounts for a whopping 40% of downloads.
Last month, Western University’s Information Systems Manager Matt Dumouchel teamed up with Eastern Illinois University’s Todd Bruns and Stacey Knight-Davis, IR Librarian and Head of Library Technology Services, to talk about their different approaches to implementing successful ETD programs. The resulting webinar, “Increasing the Visibility and Impact of Graduate Research with Electronic Theses and Dissertations”, is an excellent resource for anybody looking to make the case for ETDs on their campus. In addition to impressive numbers regarding student, editor, and librarian workflow efficiency and research exposure; Dumouchel, Bruns, and Knight-Davis also shared some great PR and marketing tips to get other members of campus excited about and invested in ETDs.
To view the webinar, click here. To learn more about publishing ETDs with Digital Commons, check out our Student Work resource library.
ETD Series at Western University
