Location
Room 205, Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
Start Date
31-7-2014 2:45 PM
End Date
31-7-2014 3:15 PM
Description
In January 2014, representatives from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and University Libraries at Washington University agreed to move the master's thesis submission process from a local, electronic form directly to the university's repository Open Scholarship, which is supported by Digital Commons. While the reasons for this change included streamlining the process for both students and administrators, making this decision ended up being the easiest part of the process, which took close to six months for repository staff to fully implement. Around the same time, the Graduate School of Art began requiring its master's students to post their theses to Open Scholarship, following a different submission process. / / This presentation will discuss the development of new workflows and associated issues. Implementation included developing a new submission form, re-evaluating the structure of the existing ETD series, creating new ETD series within the repository, developing new submission instructions for students, creating instructions for administrators, coordinating training for reviewers with bepress, and customizing email templates. This involved much communication with bepress support, as well as frequent emails among the repository staff and Graduate School representatives. In short, it involved fitting a familiar, but not necessarily efficient process, into a new, unknown one with the promise of an easier system by August. This system needed to address the needs of the Graduate School, be straightforward for students, and adhere to repository standards. The presentation will cover the benefits and consequences of this new workflow and will provide a checklist of issues and a broad step-by-step workflow for others to consider when making similar changes.
Saving Time in the Long-Run: A New Workflow for Thesis Submissions
Room 205, Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
In January 2014, representatives from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and University Libraries at Washington University agreed to move the master's thesis submission process from a local, electronic form directly to the university's repository Open Scholarship, which is supported by Digital Commons. While the reasons for this change included streamlining the process for both students and administrators, making this decision ended up being the easiest part of the process, which took close to six months for repository staff to fully implement. Around the same time, the Graduate School of Art began requiring its master's students to post their theses to Open Scholarship, following a different submission process. / / This presentation will discuss the development of new workflows and associated issues. Implementation included developing a new submission form, re-evaluating the structure of the existing ETD series, creating new ETD series within the repository, developing new submission instructions for students, creating instructions for administrators, coordinating training for reviewers with bepress, and customizing email templates. This involved much communication with bepress support, as well as frequent emails among the repository staff and Graduate School representatives. In short, it involved fitting a familiar, but not necessarily efficient process, into a new, unknown one with the promise of an easier system by August. This system needed to address the needs of the Graduate School, be straightforward for students, and adhere to repository standards. The presentation will cover the benefits and consequences of this new workflow and will provide a checklist of issues and a broad step-by-step workflow for others to consider when making similar changes.