Two very good questions (we've examined in the past) and an answer.....

Lisa


------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:              Wed, 6 Apr 2005 15:02:52 -0400
Send reply to:          Mike Neuman <[log in to unmask]>
From:                   Mike Neuman <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                Two basic questions
To:                     [log in to unmask]

Georgetown University is mounting a pilot project in ETDs, and today
at a meeting with our librarians, two basic questions arose for which
we did not have compelling answers.  I would appreciate help with
either.

First, if UMI already constitutes a kind of union catalog of theses
and dissertations, why should we spend scarce resources to provide a
duplicative collection?  Can anyone point to an available checklist of
benefits contrasting UMI and NDLTD?  We responded with advantages of
open access and contribution to the global community, publicity for
the student and the university, education of the students in the
basics of e-publishing, but from the standpoint of an aggregated
collection at UMI that we already pay for and provide access to, we
weren't completely convincing in our answer.

Second, what can be done to prevent downstream piracy and plagiarism
of freely available dissertations in PDF format.  Granted that
capability for manipulation is limited if the person getting access
has only the Adobe plug-in, someone intent on misappropriation will
have the full Adobe package to edit and re-purpose at will.  We
clarified that placing a spurious version of the document in place of
the original would not be possible, but there was still concern about
the possibility of misappropriation . . . as is true for any publicly
available electronic resource.  Does anyone have a convincing response
to this concern?

Mike




--
Michael Neuman, Ph.D., M.L.S.
Interim Associate University Librarian
    for Digital Services and Technology Planning
Lauinger Library
Georgetown University
3700 O Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20057-1174
202-687-6283
202-687-1215  (fax)
------- End of forwarded message -------Lisa Charlong
Assistant Director
Electronic Text Centre
University of New Brunswick Libraries
PO Box 7500
Fredericton, NB, Canada
E3B 5H5
Phone:506.447.3458
***
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the
mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
Einstein

***
Lisa Charlong
Assistant Director
Electronic Text Centre
University of New Brunswick Libraries
PO Box 7500
Fredericton, NB, Canada
E3B 5H5
Phone:506.447.3458
***
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the
mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
Einstein

***