The world of open access to original, primary scholarship continues to expand.
International organizations such as the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations(NDLTD) and national projects, such ThesesCanada, Australia, and Germany’s DissOnline have established the precedent of the thesis or dissertation as valuable primary research knowledge. My own encounter with this expanding digital scholarship trend began nearly 10 years ago with my own institution’s unique contemporary MD theses, written by new physicians for future physicians. The Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library now contains over 400 unique contributions to biomedical research scholarship. Students maintain their copyright and designate either delayed or immediate open access or perpetual campus access, and more than 75% immediately or eventually become open and accessible.
Students also present their thesis research discoveries in a spring scientific poster session. At the session two years ago I was intrigued by the student who focused in his thesis on nano particles in transplantation and nano particle-induced graft acceptance. I am the Library Liaison for Surgery, so it easily drew my attention. Anyone involved in pharmaceutical product development to support many kinds of surgery would be interested in reading this thesis, and there is no barrier to seeing it. But finding it in the morass of the internet is not particularly easy.
There are several efforts underway to make it easier to search for and locate digital copies of theses and dissertations. NDLTD supports and promotes two different thesis searching interfaces:
Scirus ETD Search provides an advanced search that can narrow results to theses and dissertations as well as provide access to related scholarly resources.VTLS Visualizer
This is a dynamic search and discovery platform with sophisticated functionality and advanced searching.What if your own dissertation or start-up research lab was committed to nano-technology improving healthcare? Using the VTLS Visualizer, I created an advance search that invoked several synonyms for either medicine or nano particles and combined the two themes:
Yes, there are over 700 online theses on nano-technology in medical and materials research uncovered, more than 70 in 2010. Indeed, many theses may be reconstituted as articles in open or toll journals, but many are not. I wonder how many high school and undergraduate classes know there are other places besides a research journal to find credible primary research on almost any area of contemporary biomedical knowledge by searching online open access theses and dissertations.
