EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service)
Metadata
EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service)
Poster: EThOS is a system funded by JISC, CURL and seven project partners, to bring the UK to the forefront of international e-theses provision. There are relatively few theses in the UK available in electronic format via the Internet. Consequently, some of the most innovative UK research output is virtually invisible. (The results of UK doctoral level research projects are not promoted as well as they could be meaning that few researchers across the world make use of this research; the authors of the PhD theses are little known; and in view of such lack of publicity, potential sponsors may be reluctant to fund similar research in future.) In contrast, EThOS will make UK theses available on open access for global use. EThOS will allow UK theses to take their place online, alongside those in other European countries and elsewhere, ensuring that the UK contributes to and benefits from a much greater level of engagement with research worldwide. For libraries, EThOS offers assurance that electronic theses can be discovered, accessed, managed and preserved, exploiting the strengths of universities and of the British Library to save both time and space. The system will enable students, researchers, and in fact anyone else with an interest in post graduate research theses material, to search the EThOS and to access, from the desktop, the full text, in secure format, of electronically stored theses, following selection. It will also enable UK Higher Education institutions, in partnership with the British Library, to promote their post graduate research and increase usage of their theses output.
2008