Promoting Open Access to Scholarly Data: A Case Study of the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Project at the Simon Fraser University Library

Ian Yiliang Song, Simon Fraser University Library, Canada

Scholarly data, such as academic articles, research reports and theses/dissertations, traditionally have limited dissemination in that they generally require subscriptions to publishers or affiliate to particular libraries. The notion of open access, brought by rapidly advanced digital technologies, aims to break the limitations that hinder academic developments and information exchange. This paper presents the Electronic Thesis & Dissertation (ETD) Project at the Simon Fraser University Library, British Columbia, Canada and discusses various technological considerations associated with the project including selection of software, capture of metadata and long-term preservation of the digitized data. The paper concludes that a well-established project plan that takes into account of not only technological issues but also issues relating to project policies, procedures and copyright permissions that concur in the process of providing open access plays a vital role for the overall success of such projects.

Keywords: Open Access; Scholarly Data;  Electronic Thesis and Dissertation; Digitization; Copyright.