University Libraries

Introduction

The University of North Texas (UNT) has a long history with electronic theses and dissertations. Since 1999, the UNT Graduate School has mandated the electronic submission of theses and dissertations as a requirement for graduation from the masters and doctoral programs at the university. Partnering with the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies, the UNT Libraries provide long-term storage and preservation and provisions access to these documents to interested users around the globe.

Since the UNT Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) project inception, over 3,800 ETDs have transferred to the [UNT Libraries’ server][]. Libraries are well suited for supporting ETD users by integrating ETDs into the existing digital resources. Among other tools and functionalities, the UNT Libraries offer advanced search mechanisms and a number of other added values to enhance ETD use.

UNT ETD Collection Size

[![ETD-Structure][file]{: .img-fluid .img-thumbnail .w-25 .float-start .me-2 }][full] The number of ETDs at the University of North Texas has grown at a rapid pace. As can be seen from tables 1 and 3, the number has grown to more than 4,100 ETDs in 2012. Currently, about 52% of the UNT ETDs are [Doctoral dissertations][], while the remaining (48%) are [Master’s theses][] or Problems in Lieu of Theses.

Figure 1 shows the UNT ETDs by types and tables 1 and 2 show lists of breakdowns for the current ETDs (as of August 2011) organized by semester, year, and access level.

</tbody> </table> ## Table-1: No. of ETDs by semester (For Pre-1999 see Table-2)

Year	Spring (May)	Summer (August)	Winter (December)	Total
2011	128	-	-	128
2010	120	140	103	363
2009	103	100	108	311
2008	114	126	096	336
2007	122	119	108	349
2006	102	100	124	326
2005	086	111	087	284
2004	106	116	082	304
2003	116	111	101	328
2002	096	109	093	298
2001	102	109	079	290
2000	112	117	086	315
1999	019	036	065	120
*Pre-1999	304	110	001	*415
Total	1630	1404	1133	4167

Year	Spring	Summer	Winter	Total
1998	-	-	001	001
...	...	...	...	...
1943	021	001	-	022
1942	063	-	-	063
1941	020	-	-	020
1940	105	009	-	114
1939	078	002	-	080
1938	008	051	-	059
1937	009	028	-	037
1936	-	019	-	019
Total	304	110	001	415

## Table-2: No. of retrospectively digitized theses or dissertations (\*Pre-1999)

Year	Open (Public)	Permission (UNT-Community)	Restricted (UNT-Strict)	Total
2011	123	005	-	128
2010	339	025	-	363
2009	289	022	-	311
2008	331	005	-	336
2007	349	-	-	349
2006	213	084	29	326
2005	200	061	23	284
2004	206	073	25	304
2003	236	072	20	328
2002	221	074	03	298
2001	189	097	04	290
2000	210	104	01	315
1999	071	047	02	120
Pre-1998	415*	-	-	415*
Total	3391	669	107	4167
%	82%	16%	2%	100%

## Table-3: Total No. of E/TDs by Access Level **Keys to Access Level:** - **Public:** - These ETDs are open or there are no restrictions on these resources. - **UNT-Community:-** Access to these ETDs are restricted to users associated with the University of North Texas. Users are normally required to login using their EUID, if they are located outside UNT campus. The restricted ETDs after 2007 have a delay (2-5 years) and then they will be moved to "Public" or open access after the embargo period has passed. - **UNT-Strict:-** These ETDs are restricted to UNT Community. This will be strictly enforced and users are always required to login using their EUIDs, regardless of their location. - **\*:-** Retrospectively digitized theses and dissertations ## Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Digitization In summer 2010, the UNT Library started a digital retrospective conversion (in-house) project for older (pre-1999) theses and dissertations (TDs) previously available only in paper form. As can be seen from Table-2, 239 theses and dissertations already digitized and uploaded. It's going to take a few years to work through them all (10,000+ analog TDs), but we will upload them as they completed. ## Summary Theses and dissertations represent a wealth of scholarly and artistic content created by masters and doctoral students in the degree-seeking process. One of the first three American universities to require ETDs for graduation, UNT began accepting theses and dissertations in electronic format in 1999. More than 83% of ETDs are available in open access and the other less than 17% have some type of a delay (up to 5 years) and then they (the 2007 and later ETDs) are moved to open access after this period has passed. Digital Retrospective conversion of older (pre-1999) theses and dissertations started as in-house project. The first phase of the projected started in summer 2010 with the goal of digitizing all TDs in analog formats and make them available online, open access. To create shareable metadata and ensure interoperability with other institutions and ETD aggregators such as the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), the UNT Libraries provide a [mapping document][] for ETD metadata, which uses a qualified Dublin Core (DC) schema. Furthermore, the UNT Libraries intend to identify innovative ways of providing enhanced services to our ETD users worldwide. By doing so, we will continue being instrumental in strengthening UNT's existing reputation and will make progress toward the visions outlined in the global initiatives to bring research works across the world to the public domain. If you have questions or comments regarding the [ETDs project][UNT Libraries' server] in general, please contact Daniel Gelaw Alemneh at <Daniel.Alemneh@unt.edu> or Mark E. Phillips at <Mark.Phillips@unt.edu>. [UNT Libraries' server]: https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTETD/browse/ [file]: /assets/images/departments/division-content/digital-libraries/digital-curation-unit/etd-structure.jpg [full]: /assets/images/departments/division-content/digital-libraries/digital-curation-unit/etd-structure.jpg [Doctoral dissertations]: https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTETD/browse/?fq=str_degree_level:Doctoral [Master's theses]: https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTETD/browse/?fq=str_degree_level:Master's [mapping document]: /digital-curation-unit/etd/mapping/