Why submit electronic rather than paper theses and dissertations?
Electronic theses and dissertations are valuable for several reasons. On a grand scale, the speed with which electronic theses and dissertations become accessible increases the availability of recent research to a larger audience. On a more individual level, the skills required to develop an electronic document are the skills the current generation will be using in an ever-expanding digital world. Part of graduate education is to prepare students for participation in research and publication. In addition, ETD’s offer students multiple opportunities to express their information in new ways, using audio, video, 3-D models, animations, simulations, and more. ETD’s also allow students to save the expense of printing the final copies on 100% cotton paper. They are also easier to store than their paper counterparts.
