Theses are one of the most concentrated and valuable ways that science is published. Yet they could be so much more valuable....
[PS: Cutting PMR's quotations from my blog and my July article on OA to ETDs.]
I agree with all the positive things Peter says, but I also need Open Data - the ability to re-use the data in the thesis without further permission....
However at the Open Scholarship meeting in Glasgow I specifically asked for some exemplars of chemistry eTheses. I got a lot of response - and in many countries theses seem to be published routinely in electronic form under some form of (implicit) Open license. However in the UK theses seem to be restricted by additional rights and regulations imposed by the universities, and all seem to be different. So I have the impression - and it’s only an impression - that although there are electronic theses they are not necessarily OA.
Sadly, of course, while almost all theses are created electronically, most undergo the cow to hamburger destruction. I heard yesterday of a student measuring spectra with a ruler, when the original data were digital…
I think theses are a great opportunity to show the value of reposition. I know many cases where the author is among the first to request data from the repository - since they have lost their own digital records. A few cases of this sort starts to make sense even in a conservative community like chemistry.
So let’s start demanding that we all deposit theses Openly - if only for the benefit of the student and supervisor!
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/06/2006 11:52:00 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.
