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EThOS - Making UK Theses much easier to obtain
- EThOS was developed with generous funding from JISC, CURL (now RLUK) and the partners including The British Library and several UK Higher Education institutions led by Glasgow and Imperial
- EThOS makes UK theses (e and paper based) available via a ‘one-stop-shop’ by harvesting e-theses from Institutional Repositories and digitising paper theses on-demand from researchers
- Any e-thesis held by the system is available for immediate download anywhere in the world direct to the researcher's desktop
- The central system, which allows consistent and coherent access to all theses, is managed by The British Library and includes the access system and a digitisation studio
- When a researcher wants access to a paper thesis, the system contacts the institution, digitises the thesis and loads it to the EThOS system. The system then emails the researcher who can immediately download it. Supply times will be greatly improved over the current microfilm service
- The vast majority of theses will be digitised at no cost to the researcher on an open access basis – in the majority of cases digitisation will be paid for by the HE institution
- Once a thesis is digitised it is available for immediate free download in perpetuity
- The British Library copies a microfilm every time it is loaned so that the original microfilm can be stored for future supply. This allows more than one researcher to use the thesis even if the previous user is not yet finished; it keeps the original microfilm secure for future lending; and is cheaper and more efficient than re-filming in the event of loss or damage to an original loaned microfilm.
- Institutions wishing to offer Open Access to their paper theses can pay for the digitisation on behalf of the researcher i.e. access to the thesis is FREE at the point of use! We expect the majority of institutions taking part to support this level of service but it is at their discretion – there are other models should an individual institution be unable to offer Open Access
- EThOS offers ‘added value services’ where the researcher can order printing of the thesis or supply on CD/DVD. The researcher will be charged for these services – see the toolkit for the actual figures. But remember, the thesis can be downloaded for free.
- EThOS is a partnership between the HE community and the British Library. EThOS is an example of how partnership and collaboration can deliver a resource of enormous potential benefit to the research and higher education communities ensuring a far greater national and international visibility for UK research.
- The British Library and Higher Education Institutions are encouraging members of the wider community to join the service. The HE and research communities working together in partnership will make EThOS stronger, ensuring a significant unified step in the development of a national approach to provision of research information.
- For its part, The British Library is offering all services on a not for profit basis
The implementation of the EThOS system will enable anyone anywhere in the world will be able to search and access UK theses on-line. A user will be able to download them to their desktop from a single point of contact. The number of theses available for immediate free download will rapidly increase as more and more are digitised and, by its very existence, EThOS will encourage further the already rapid move towards electronic submission.
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