If you go to this OskiCat record, http://oskicat.berkeley.edu/record=b18534775~S1 , you’ll find it’s for a UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation dated Spring 2011. Imbedded in this record is a link, UCB Dissertations. Freely available . This link launches a full text PDF of the dissertation that is served from a UC Berkeley Library server.
This record is the culmination of The Library’s collaboration with the Graduate Council to move Berkeley from print to electronic dissertations (and soon to include Plan 1 theses), and to make these freely available on a timetable set by the author. Systems reports that as of this writing, 948 dissertations are freely available, and 161 dissertations (15% of the total) are being held by author request in embargo (more on embargo below.)
Recently, the Graduate Council has approved a similar proposal to move Plan 1 masters theses to e-only. We expect the first e-theses to arrive next Spring.
Getting here
The process began in August 2009 when the Graduate Council passed a proposal requiring that dissertations be e-only beginning Spring 2010.
Library Systems and the Catalog Department developed a fully automated workflow that culminated in the appearance of e-dissertation records, including open access links, in OskiCat, Next Gen Melvyl, and OCLC. (Note: Three UC campuses are participating in a pilot to load e-Dissertations to eScholarship. Berkeley will begin this process when the pilot moves into formal implementation.)
The workflow devised includes ProQuest creating the metadata which Systems then programmatically uses to establish an OskiCat record. This has and will continue to save Cataloging a great deal of time and effort. (Kudos to Systems and Cataloging for this elegant solution.)
The original Grad Council proposal set a default author selection to a 2-year embargo before the full text would become available. UC Berkeley Library staff immediately expressed concerns seeing the embargo as an unnecessary in most cases barrier to open access. Between September 2010 and May 2011, Collections Council asked for feedback from subject councils and named a small group (Bette Anton, Jim Ronningen, and Charlotte Rubens) to draft a document setting forth The Library’s viewpoint. UL Tom Leonard took this document to the Academic Senate Committee on Libraries who in turn co-authored a letter to the Chair of the Grad Council asking them to reconsider the issue. In June 2011 we were informed that the Grad Council had decided to change their author form to remove any default, and to list open access as the first option on the form. (See the release forms now posted at http://grad.berkeley.edu/policies/pdf/dissertation_release.pdf)
Plan 1 Master Theses
As mentioned above, the Grad Division announced in September 2011 electronic submission of Plan 1 masters theses will be optional for the Fall 2011 semester, and will become mandatory in Spring 2012. (Note: depending on the academic program, masters candidates are identified as Plan 1 for those who are required to write and file a thesis, and Plan 2 who may qualify via exam or special project.) We’re happy to report that the first option offered to theses authors is also open access http://grad.berkeley.edu/policies/pdf/masters_release.pdf .
Thanks to all for a very successful team effort.
–Bernie
