Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Metadata Workflow at Oregon State University Libraries

In July 2005, the Oregon State University Libraries began accepting electronic versions of student theses and dissertations into ScholarsArchive@OSU, the library's institutional repository. By January 2007, all Oregon State University graduate students were required to deposit their final research. This article compares past processes and workflows for print theses and dissertations with the present workflow for electronic. We provide the rationale for changes and review the cost- and time-savings produced. We describe the changing roles of students, technicians, and librarians in the metadata process as well as the value of students describing their own work.