Purdue University is examining the idea of Electronic Theses and
Dissertations (ETD). However, we do not yet wish to give up having a hard
copy of our theses and dissertations. Just a short eight years ago, most
of my papers were stored on a 5.25" floppy disk formatted for a word
processing program called First Choice. Today, I cannot access any of
these files. Who is to say that a zip, DVD, or CD will be the medium of
information in another 5 years. Will HTML even be used 10 years from now
or will we be onto the WEB mach 2, by then. I believe it is best to still
take two copies of the thesis or dissertation one in the traditional
format, on rag paper, and the other in an electronic format. The
electronic format increases access and ease of use for today's patron. The
hardbound copy on rag paper insures information will not be lost because
of a failure to migrate the information, electronic seepage, or fast
advancement in technology. In our rush to go digital will we be issuing in
a "Digital Dark Age"

Today many researchers place their research on the WWW. In my position as
thesis format checker and thesis depositor, I have the honor of seeing
every thesis and dissertation that comes out of Purdue University. Since
1995 when I took this position, I have seen a marked increase in citations
of web sites in the list of references. I went back through some of the
theses deposited in the last 3-3 years and 70% of all web sites cited are
now "error 404 (file not found)". I took Purdue University's first BS
thesis "Beer and its Physiological Effects" from 1876 and looked up the
sources. 80% of all books cited were still in the Purdue University
Libraries. Will we lose a generation of information? How can we archive
our theses and dissertations with out having to worry about migrations
every three years or outside companies? What is the lifespan of most
electronic formats? How long will a zip disk, CD, DVD, or 3.5" floppy disk
last and hold up? If we do not keep migrating the information to new forms
we will lose the information.  By still having the paper copy of "Beer and
its Physiological Effects" I could place it on the web to be read. If I do
not migrate the information with each advancement in technology over the
next 15 years and we wish to place this thesis in some electronic format
then, we will be able to do so as long as we have the paper copy. Purdue
University has always had its theses placed on the best quality paper so
most of these theses will last 300 to 500 years. If I take a thesis from
today that's on a DVD/CD that deals with some aspect of science today,
that format could be 90% out of date in 7 years, and we might not migrate
the information at each advancement in technology because of budget
restrictions. Finally the thesis and the information will be lost.

Purdue needs to purse ETD stronger then what we are currently, however we
should not be in such a rush to digitize everything as future generations
might be the one paying for this blunder.

James Beaven
Library Assistant V
Special Collections, Archives, and Thesis Deposit
Purdue University