UC Libraries Forum 2021: Leading with Innovation, Stronger through Collaboration

UC graduate students write thousands of dissertations and theses every year, making unique contributions to scholarship. Newly authored works are submitted digitally and find global audiences online, but what about the older ones languishing in print and microformats in high density storage facilities? These materials are essentially unavailable to all but those who have the resources to travel to a library to read a physical copy or who can pay for digital scans. Because of the timeless and ongoing value of theses and dissertations, and to make these scholarly resources more equitably available, three UC campuses and CDL have been exploring paths to make these “vintage” works accessible worldwide via eScholarship and/or HathiTrust. Speakers on this panel from UCSF, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and CDL will describe the legal, technical, and logistical issues they faced when pursuing this goal. Different strategies were employed in each of these projects, resulting in different outcomes. Panelists will cover successes and obstacles--including those they were unable to surmount--and any new strategies that are currently being considered.