ETD Veterans panel- Back to the future

A panel of veterans launched into some of the hurdles that the ETD movement has confronted in the last decade.

Tim Brace, the moderator and recipient of a 2010 NDLTD leadership award, started the discussion by reading the main program elements from the 2001 ETD conference and asking if anything of the overall interest areas and concerns have changed.

Thomas Dowling shared his geographic proximity with ACS and OCLC and the ability of librarians to change OCLC restrictive policies through banding together for advocacy. Gail McMillan reminded everyone that at that early conference a major publisher, when asked, revealed their acceptance, not opposition, to ETD repositories. Ed Fox emphasized overcoming fears through unity, seeking partnerships, and changing relationship with colleagues, and building a culture of confidence and strength.

The discussion moved to embargoes, and Terry Kahn from the UT Graduate School shared a recent experience with a log-term embargo request and the need to counsel the student about the power of open scholarship. Terry said emphatically that we are on a mission, and that the system of required pre-thesis professional articles is a distracting and incorrect trend that we can advocate against. John Hagen talked about the restrictions imposed by national security concerns that remain unresolved.