The British Library and CURL have announced a new project to create an OA repository of UK theses and dissertations. From the announcement in the February 17 issue of the BL Research and Innovation Newsletter: 'In partnership with CURL (Consortium of Research Libraries), we are pleased to have secured funding for an 18-month project to create the first stage of an online resource allowing full access to UK PhD theses. Our British Thesis Service currently gives access to more than 170,000 doctoral theses, but they are only collected 'on demand' and researchers have to know that the thesis actually exists before they can order it. Within this project, the British Library has responsibility to provide the technical infrastructure for the service, including a central electronic store and the means for students and researchers to search for and access full text of their selected thesis. Jan Wilkinson, Head of Higher Education, says "Doctoral degrees present the latest thinking supported by detailed data. It's hard though, for researchers to find exactly what they want from theses as there is no central source of information. This new service will give a much higher level of national and international visibility for UK post-graduate research and also ensure its long-term preservation." ' (Thanks to ResourceShelf.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/20/2005 08:17:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
