IR Applications at University of Saskatchewan Library:
present and future
CARL Institutional Repository Luncheon
Saskatoon, SKJune 8, 2005
David Fox
Head, Information Technology Services and Technical Services Divisions
University of Saskatchewan Library
IR Applications: present and future
Present• Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs)
Future• UofS Librarians’ Research• Aboriginal Portal documents, images• ETDs again
ETDs
• Repository initiated in 2002• Currently 779 TDs from 1998 -• Uses ETD-db from NDLTD
• Open source software tool for building and exposing a collection of ETDs
• Specific purpose IR software• Incorporates OAI/PMH• Uses ETD-ms metadata format
ETD-ms
• An extension of Dublin Core metadata element set which adds additional specificity for the description of TDs, e.g.
• Role of contributors (TD supervisor, advisory committee member, external examiner, etc.)
• TD level, discipline, grantor
ETD-db
• Captures source info from grad student• Manages the ETD development and approval
process• Makes records available for harvesting in a variety of
metadata formats, incl. DC, ETD-ms, MARC• Makes available local file of MARC communications
records for uploading to an OPAC
Harvesters
UofS ETDs are being harvested by (among others):
• CARL OAI Harvester• OAIster• OCLC NDLTD Union Catalog• Theses Canada
Theses Canada Harvester Pilot Project
• Pilot Project 2004/2005 to develop and test TC OAI harvester
• Participants: Laval, Waterloo, UofS• Successfully completed in April 2005 with
the harvesting of 693 born digital ETDs from the 3 participating universities (213 from the UofS).
• TC harvested the metadata and the PDFs• These documents are now searchable in Theses
Canada and AMICUS.
“Repatriating” ETDs from Theses Canada
• All Canadian TDs for the period 1998-2002 are available freely via the TC Portal
• TC licensed public access to these ETDs from ProQuest
• We captured metadata and PDFs for 453 UofS ETDs from this set and added them to our own repository.
• Why? To make them more accessible
“Repatriating” ETDs from Theses Canada
UofS ETD Breakdown
Born Digital (Masters & PhD: 2002- ) 286 (36.7%)
Downloaded from TC (PhD: 1998-2002) 493 (63.3%)
779
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ETD Development Process
• ETD-db includes functionality for managing thesis development workflow. We don’t use it.
• Student completes thesis and defends in front of examining committee
• If defence is successful student is authorized to upload thesis text and metadata to ETD-db approval queue
ETD Development Process
• CGSR goes over the TD and metadata to ensure correct format
• Student signs NL distribution license form• CGSR approves thesis and it becomes public (providing
there are no availability restrictions)
ETD Development Process
• Metadata for unrestricted ETDs is imported into the OPAC through an automated script
• Unrestricted ETDs are available immediately to harvesters and search engines
• With the cooperation of CGSR we have developed a process for publishing, cataloguing, and disseminating ETDs that is relatively maintenance free
Future IR Applications
D-Space• UofS Librarians’ Research• Aboriginal Portal documents, images• ETDs again
Thank-you!
Questions?
CARL Institutional Repository Luncheon
Saskatoon, SKJune 8, 2005
David Fox
Head, Information Technology Services and Technical Services Divisions
University of Saskatchewan Library
