Established in 2009 by a group of interested electronic theses and dissertation (ETD) professionals within the United States, the United States Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Association (USETDA) is an independent non-profit association which provides assistance and resources to professionals in the higher education community. The mission of the USETDA is to provide information on best practices, including developing and disseminating important information on initiatives, supporting the development of state-wide associations, bringing professionals together at the local level to network and improve operations, educate and raise awareness of relevant issues, and support the expansion of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) and other international initiatives.
The USETDA fosters networking, collaboration, and learning among ETD professionals (administrators, librarians, faculty and staff) who manage ETD programs on campuses. Through sharing information and best practices, our membership strives to improve services, access, visibility and equity in higher education at colleges and universities across the nation. Our membership considers and evaluates policies, processes, and issues that affect undergraduate and graduate students in their research, writing and deposit of their work into publicly available online digital institutional repository collections. Through our initiatives, the USETDA has increased community awareness about recommended best practices in creating, distributing and preserving digital collections as well as the benefits of providing open access to academic research and dissemination of knowledge around the world.
Vision
The vision of the USETDA is to link ETD professionals to information, each other and the world. The organization seeks to support ETD professionals and initiatives at a local, national and international level by enhancing operations in the workplace, advancing ETD technologies and support, and enriching ETD professions.
Mission
The mission of the USETDA is to support ETD professionals and ETD programs in the U.S. by enabling and encouraging the establishment of state-wide ETD associations, linking individuals and associations, developing and disseminating information of importance on best practices, increasing educational services to ETD programs, increasing ETD program productivity and cost savings, and supporting the expansion of the NDLTD and other international ETD initiatives including digitization and digital preservation initiatives, institutional repository development and the promotion of online open access distribution of academic research materials.
Objectives
The organization has several objectives including:
- to facilitate information sharing among ETD professionals
- to improve the overall ETD operations in both Graduate Colleges and libraries, increasing cost savings and enhance productivity
- to establish and disseminate “best practices” for ETD programs and statewide associations operation
- to provide mechanisms and resources that effectively inform students, faculty and ETD professionals about important ETD concepts, issues, and initiatives
- to create a network of ETD professionals to call upon when problem solving
- to assist other states in implementing statewide associations that would support, encourage and assist local ETD professionals in developing and improving ETD programs within their states
- to support and encourage membership in the international ETD consortium, the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
Charitable Non-Profit Organization
USETDA is a public 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization registered in the State of Ohio. Contributions to the USETDA are tax deductible for individuals and organizations.
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