On-Demand Scanning: Theses & Dissertations

Procedures for Scanning Theses & Dissertations "on demand" from Special Collections & Archives

1. A patron requests a digital copy of a thesis or dissertation. Requests may come through the Archives, Digital Initiatives, or Public Services. We first check to make sure it has not already been digitized by looking in the catalog and in Digital Commons.

2. We determine a) if we have a print copy in the library and b) if we can accommodate digitization according to the Selection Criteria:

   1. We have the capacity to digitize the material internally (in terms of equipment, staffing and time commitment)

   2. There are no copyright/IP restrictions to prevent digitization

   3. The material is in good enough condition to be digitized

3. Staff (usually Mark or Julia) notify Erin of a new request. She will retrieve item and coordinate digitization by Digital Initiatives staff/students.

4. Erin enters basic information about the material in the Digitization Queue Spreadsheet, Columns A-F:

• 1. Title

  2. Author

  3. Date of Publication

  4. Date requested

  5. Filename: 'thesis_last name_firstname_YYYY' or 'diss_lastname_firstname_YYYY'

5. Digital Initiatives staff/students digitize the material according to established scanning procedures for theses and dissertations.

6. Digitizer uploads file to the shared server to the "Digitized Theses and Dissertations" folder with the correct filename.

7. Digitizer updates the "Digitization Queue (SC on-demand) spreadsheet.

8. Digitizer uploads the thesis/dissertation to DigitalCommons@URI.

9. If applicable, student notifies Erin that scanning is complete. Erin returns the item to the shelf.

10. Erin follows up with the original requester, and copies all involved to make sure everyone is aware the request is complete.

11. Erin notifies Mike Cerbo of the new digitized thesis/dissertation so a link can be added to the catalog record.