Moving Electronic Theses from ETD-db to EPrints : The Best of Both Worlds: A Project Briefing Presented at the CNI Spring 2010 Membership Meeting, Baltimore, MD, April 12, 2010

Abstract

Caltech Library Services' first digital archive came online in April 2001 using EPrints software from the University of Southampton. We began collecting electronic theses early as well: voluntary deposit of Ph.D. theses began in 2001, and became mandatory in July 2002. The thesis collection was hosted on the ETD-db software platform developed at Virginia Tech. By 2008 it became clear that we needed to consolidate our repository platforms. We decided to move our electronic theses to EPrints Version 3, the platform in use for our institutional repository. We did not, however, want to lose the many unique features of the Virginia Tech ETD-db software, such as thesis-specific workflow, the ability for staff to communicate with thesis authors via email from within the ETD-db interface, and fine-grained, thesis-specific access controls. We also wanted to add new features that were not available in either platform, such as tracking the progress of a thesis through the complex local approval and release process, and the ability to store related documents, such as signed thesis forms and permissions letters, with the thesis but in a "dark" area of the record visible only to repository administrators. This briefing explains what was involved in the transition from ETD-db to EPrints for our thesis collection and how the Caltech Library took advantage of the flexibility of the EPrints platform to meet our requirements. It also suggests ways that other institutions may be able to adopt and build on what we've done, and why EPrints 3 may be a good electronic thesis repository solution for other institutions.