1. 1 A Future for UK Theses 22 nd January 2004 The British Library Thesis Service Anthony Troman Product Development Manager British Library

2. 2 The Proposal Aspiration: All UK Theses readily available and immediately accessible to support the information needs of the research community. In practice: A central resource to verify, locate and order Theses of interest to a Customer. A one stop shop for UK Theses. How do we know its needed? British Library Customers across all sectors have told us! Who is best placed to supply this central resource? The British Library

3. 3 Why the British Library? Public good/not for profit – no charge to Institution Established document delivery reputation Established Customer base across all sectors Access for the wider community without subscription Economies of scale - standards - e-storage (DOMS) - e-distribution (Secure Electronic Delivery) Major investment in technologies from Discovery to Delivery to Preservation Close relationship with Index To Theses for paper theses

4. 4 Benefits to Institutions A free stall in the BL information market place Option to develop own access/distribution system (or not) Free access to your own Institutions e-Theses De-facto back-up system – searchable access constantly available Cost price access to other UK Institutions Theses Co-branded supply from the British Library BL promotion of UK Theses/Awareness service Delivery in 15 seconds!! Option to use e-thesis developments (or not)

5. 5 Issues Buy-in to centralised model Software availability – maintenance and upgrades Data transfer standards – harvesting/delivery Consistent and coherent access to ALL UK Theses (paper and electronic) Digitisation of paper theses Standard business model/agreement for participation (Thesis Agreement Form/Thesis Declaration Form) Rights management/royalties Use of software to administer paper theses

6. 6 Opportunities Student/Author Institution British Library/JISC Customer UK WIN!