Comments on: EThOS

By: Gavin Robinson

Gavin Robinson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:24:38 +0000

I’ve just noticed that my thesis is now available for immediate download, which means that someone else must have requested it. Scary. I really want to make my own annotated version so I can indicate where I was wrong or changed my mind about things, but that would take ages and maybe there’s no point living in the past (says a historian).

By: Gavin Robinson

Gavin Robinson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:39:56 +0000

And the thesis I ordered to be digitized was finally delivered today. A bit longer than I was expecting, but they’ve had to increase the lead times because of heavy demand. Still not bad for nothing money.

By: Airminded · There were giants in the earth in those days

Airminded · There were giants in the earth in those days — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:28:14 +0000

[...] I followed Gavin Robinson’s lead and tried out the British Library’s EThOS beta. EThOS stands for Electronic Theses [...]

By: Gavin Robinson

Gavin Robinson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:56:32 +0000

Keywords would be really useful. As I suggested above, it seems to work best if you already know what you’re looking for, but that misses a lot of opportunities. It would be better if it was easier to find things that you don’t know you’re looking for – that’s one of the great advantages of web based research.

I also forgot to mention before that the records aren’t Zotero-able. It would be great if they added COiNS metadata or something like that. Again it’s currently fine if you already have the data in Zotero and are looking for a copy of that specific thesis, but if it’s something new you have to enter it manually or scrape it from somewhere else.

I remember Oxbridge theses were harder to get from the British Thesis Service – you had to fill in an extra form and send it by post because they needed an original signature – but at least you could get them. I’m assuming Oxbridge have or will have their own online repositories for theses, but that’s still less convenient than having all British theses in the same place.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:45:58 +0000

I’ve been really impressed with EThOS so far. I’ve ordered half a dozen or so theses to be scanned, and have downloaded about the same number that have already been digitised. The speed and quality of the service is good: like you I think the downloading interface is a bit clunky, with lots of screens and clicking back and forth if you’ve downloaded more than one, but this is a minor niggle.

I’m also really disappointed that Oxford and Cambridge are not engaging in this service yet. I’ve had a really dire service from inter-library loans on Oxbridge theses so far – I was told I couldn’t be loaned one because they did not have the author’s consent to make it available. I replied that he was dead, so it would be hard for him to give consent. I still wasn’t allowed to get a copy – my only option is to go to the Bodleian and consult it. As you say it is Oxbridge’s loss since it means that theses which remain unpublished will almost certainly go unconsulted by scholars outside the UK, or even outside Oxbridge.

By: Ross Mahoney

Ross Mahoney — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:48:53 +0000

Gavin – Cheers for posting this. I have already downloaded a few to read. I think they need to improve the searchability of the site. They need to link thesis more readily with keyword searches rather than just title words. At the moment I am having to be creative with word searches. It will build with time and it is nice to finally have the service availiable.

BTW Great to see you back on the blogosphere;)