Honors Thesis Advisor Letter
Dear Honors Thesis Advisor,
We would like to tell you about a new and exciting digital repository service that we are making available to our honors thesis students in a pilot this spring.
As you know, honors theses have been bound, catalogued and permanently preserved in the Libraryâ˙s Archives and Special Collections since 1928. These theses are available on site during open hours, as well as through interlibrary loan when photocopy release forms have been signed by the student authors. Beginning this spring, we are asking thesis students, after consultation with their advisor -- to submit an electronic version of their thesis in addition to the traditional print version so that we can digitally preserve them and, in most cases, provide wider and easier access to some of our best academic work at Wheaton using DSpace. We strongly encourage you and your students to participate in this pilot project.
You may have heard about Wheaton's participation in a liberal arts college collaborative (NITLE) project using the open source software, DSpace, for the preservation and management of campus-produced intellectual content in what is called an "institutional repository." There are several benefits to the student and to Wheaton when they post theses in Wheaton's "digital space," primary among them the potential for world-wide, any time access and attention to their work via Google and other search engines. Last year's experiment with four theses was very well received by students and faculty advisors, and the accessibility via Google was, in their view, the most exciting feature. You can view them here: http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/693
While authors retain their copyrights, there are caveats to consider when posting a thesis in an institutional repository. Please consult http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/Library/Resources/Dspace/Benefits.html for a description of benefits as well as important considerations for posting work. We encourage you to work closely with your student(s) when they fill out a required permission form. This Honors Thesis Copyright and Distribution Permission Form, which outlines the various access options, must be printed, signed by both the faculty advisor and the thesis student, and submitted to the Registrar along with the print thesis at the thesis parade on Monday, May 12. A copy, also available from the link below, is attached. Access decisions would best be made by informed faculty-student discussion and LIS staff are ready to assist.
After permission decisions have been made, students will submit an electronic copy of their thesis to Wheaton's Honors Theses DSpace Community. The instructions for electronic submission and the permission form are accessible from the Wheaton Digital Collections Repository web page at http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/Library/ Resources/Dspace/index.html. We will be communicating directly with thesis students very soon about the new submission procedures, and are ready to work with them individually, as needed. We regret that portions of theses in non-standard formats not convertible to PDF, TIFF or JPEG (e.g., video, sound, etc.) cannot be placed in DSpace at this time.
If you have any questions at all, please consult with your librarian liaison, Scott Hamlin, Zeph Stickney or Margaret Gardner. We stand by ready to help. Encourage your students to contact us, as well. We hope you are as enthusiastic as we are about this opportunity to showcase Wheaton student scholarship and thank you for your support.
Pat Santilli
Alex Trayford
Scott Hamlin
Zeph Stickney
Margaret Gardner
April 22, 2008
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