Dear Colleague,
Don't miss out on the opportunity to attend ETD2009 - the 12th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations to be held June 10 - 13, 2009 at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. The Conference program is available online at http://www.library.pitt.edu/etd2009/program.html.
The ETD2009 Conference will focus on electronic theses and dissertations, institutional repositories, open access and integrative e-learning processes in higher education. Discussion topics will include open access, scholarly communications, digital preservation, digital library standards, platforms/demonstrations, new trends and global outreach colloquium co-organized with eIFL. This year we have an outstanding lineup of experts who will share their visions of the future of electronic scholarly publishing.
ETD2009 Featured Speakers
§ Stevan Harnad, Université du Québec à Montréal / University of Southampton. The Open Access Movement - Integrating Universities' ETD-Deposit and Research-Deposit Mandates, Repositories and Metrics
§ Karla Hahn, Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Broadening Dissemination of New Knowledge - Scholarly Communications in the Digital Millennium
§ Deanna Marcum, Library of Congress. Preservation - A Moral and Legal Obligation: Preservation in the Digital Age
§ Steve O'Connor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Beyond the Great Wall - Experiences with ETDs and Open Access in China and South East Asia
§ Daniel Ferreras, West Virginia University. Perspectives on Open Access, ETDs and Scholarly Communications - The Digital Axis of Communication
§ Patrick Conner, West Virginia University Press / Dept. of English. Publishing, Open Access & ETDs - A Panel Session on Student, Faculty & Publisher Perspectives in the Arts & Humanities
§ Bridging the Knowledge Divide: Expanding Global Open Access Panel
§ Marc Govaerts, EBSCO / Open Science Direct
§ Michelle Rago, Library of Congress / World Digital Library
§ Jason Phillips, JSTOR / Developing Nations Access Initiative
Conference activities will also include presentations from prominent librarians, graduate school administrators, information technology specialists and technology solution providers from 4 continents. There will be 5 plenary panel sessions, 37 papers (breakout sessions) as well as 20 poster exhibitors and a Technology Fair with exhibits sponsored by ProQuest, Patents Online, Ex Libris, VTLS and NDLTD ETD-db.
The conference will provide spectacular venues including a welcome reception in the famous gothic style Cathedral of Learning, conference activities and continental breakfasts in the William Pitt Union, conference networking lunches at the historic Pittsburgh Athletic Association, a conference dinner banquet and awards ceremony in the sumptuous Carnegie Music Hall and a sunset dinner cruise along Pittsburgh's three rivers on the Gateway Clipper Fleet.
An exciting lineup of optional weekend activities includes local attractions and museum tours such as the Pitt Nationality Rooms, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Any Warhol Museum. Plan a day trip including lunch at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob In the evening you can catch the Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Detroit Tigers at PNC Park. Have dinner on the town and catch a show - ranging from ballet and modern dance, opera and symphonic performances. Enjoy the club scene with an infinite variety of famous Pittsburgh blues, jazz, rock Bluegrass and contemporary artists and DJs.
If the outdoors is your thing, Pittsburgh is within miles of breathtaking beauty. Mountain hiking, biking, river-rafting, spelunking and camping adventures are available in the surrounding Appalachian Mountains, with some of the best golf courses in the world. "Wild and Wonderful" Morgantown, West Virginia, home to West Virginia University and recently named America's best small city, is just 70 miles south of Pittsburgh. Mountaineer culture and charm with world-class amenities make this a favorite destination.
The region is also conveniently located within 500 miles of notable East coast tourist destinations such as New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Niagara Falls.
Online Conference Registration is now open! We are pleased to announce that we have significantly decreased the registration costs for ETD2009 from previous years. We have a range of low cost accommodations available, including discount on-campus lodging. The deadline for early registration is May 2nd.
Still need convincing about the benefits of attending ETD2009? Read the following and pass the information along to your Graduate School, Information Technology and University Library Deans and Directors.
In these very challenging financial times, what makes the NDLTD's ETD Conference series worthwhile? Consider the following:
About the NDLTD
Thanks to the support of NDLTD members, affiliates and sponsors world-wide, 2008 was the most successful year in NDLTD history. The ETD2008 Conference at the Robert Gordon University in Scotland was the capstone event for the organization. This year's conference, to be held in North America for the first time in several years, looks to build on this momentum. We hope that you are planning to join us in Pittsburgh for ETD 2009: Bridging the Knowledge Divide, to be held at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Over the past year, the NDLTD union catalog has grown considerably. Participating institutions now make over 750,000 theses and dissertations available for harvesting. NDLTD is helping many others in setting up their ETD repositories, ensuring continued growth of this important collection. To use and/or contribute to the union catalog, please visit http://www.ndltd.org/find and use any of the services available there.
The NDLTD also supports many other activities, such as ETD awards and travel grants, and ETD-ms, the emerging standard for ETD metadata. You can find out more at http://www.ndltd.org/, the NDLTD web site.
Your participation in NDLTD activities is vital for the continued health of the organization and indicates that you are aware of the importance of making theses and dissertations available electronically. You know how it improves the visibility of student research, how it helps them in their career, and how it improves all research by making previously hidden works easily accessible to a worldwide audience.
NDLTD relies on individuals like you. If your institution is not a member, or its membership has lapsed, please let your superiors know how a modest membership fee makes a world of difference. Membership fees directly support NDLTD activities to increase the visibility of graduate research. As an added benefit, attendees from member institutions enjoy a 10% discount on the registration fee for the ETD2009 Conference. Join NDLTD today.
How Attending the ETD2009 Conference Can Help
§ Make an investment in your institution. Studies consistently show that organizations which invest in open access programs such as ETD implementation and institutional repository collection development receive greater recognition on a global scale for their faculty and student's research efforts. With today's competition, how long can your institution afford to go unnoticed? Attendance at the ETD2009 conference can be a low cost / high impact way to rapidly make a difference at your institution.
§ Make an investment in your staff. Studies consistently show that organizations that invest in their people have higher staff morale levels and job satisfaction. Is your staff up-to-date on latest trends and standards? In times when morale and satisfaction can be battered by the lack of raises, salary reductions and increasing work loads, attendance at an ETD Conference can be a low cost way to improve the situation.
§ Networking and development ensures you are deriving the maximum value from the investment you have made, and continue to make, in your technology and scholarly communications endeavors and solutions. It's not news that in today's environment, you need to make every dollar stretch further than before. One way to do that is to make sure your people know how to derive the greatest efficiency from your systems and services for both your staff and users. Engaging your staff in ETD symposia helps achieve that goal.
§ New dimensions in electronic scholarly communications, related services and products require new understanding. The NDLTD is well known for its continued delivery of innovative ideas and development of standards for the global community since 1996. ETD Symposia provide a comprehensive source that helps your staff remain informed on latest trends, lessons learned and best practices.
§ Networking allows for the sharing of ideas and solutions. One of the real values of attending the annual ETD conferences is having the opportunity to meet face-to-face and talk with colleagues, peers and experts about how they are dealing with many of the same challenges you are facing. Often new approaches and solutions to existing issues are found, discussed and explored in these forums.
Attending the ETD2009 Conference is an investment, not an expense, in the future of your University's scholarly communications. At the very time when Graduate Schools, University Libraries and Information Technology groups face increased demands for their services, these conferences help position your organization to meet those demands. Regardless of whether your institution is a rookie or a veteran to the process, you will benefit by attending. Join us. Register today to attend. It is the best investment decision you will ever make in your institution.
On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, we hope to see you in Pittsburgh in June at ETD2009!
Rush Miller (University of Pittsburgh)
John Hagen (West Virginia University)
Co-Chairs, ETD 2009 Symposium
ETD2009 Conference Organizers
The ETD2009 Conference is organized by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and Co-Sponsored by West Virginia University.