| Popis: |
The grey literature, including the theses and dissertations, comprises a special form of unpublished material and its knowledge is essential for the whole academic and research community. However, few people know the existence of the printed grey literature. The access to the printed grey literature is not easy, even to the people that know its existence. However, there are efforts to collect the grey literature, such as the collection of the dissertations at the NDC or other university efforts, in which the grey literature is widely known, especially when it is accessible electronically. In the international scientific community, there are initiatives to deposit, collect and provide the grey literature electronically. The Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) is the most important initiative. This initiative started at Virginia Tech, which is the first university that demanded electronic submission of ETDs, and evolved in a Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) of 183 members (159 Universities and 24 Institutions) from all over the world. This digital library is a Union Catalogue of ETDs linked with the full text. The electronic submission and provision of the ETDs benefit from the use of appropriate specifications for writing and deposition. A very important initiative on this matter is the UNESCO Guide for Creating Electronic Theses and Dissertations. This guide contains unified writing and deposition specifications of ETDs. All the universities that participate in the NDLTD or others that have ETDs will apply these specifications. The eventual goal of this guide is to make all students at all universities to be able to create ETDs, with similar layout and structure of their content, in order to have the ETDs easier retrievable and accessible, independently of their creating environment. In addition, this guide enhances the quality of the electronic content and helps the dissemination of the grey literature. We analyze the main points of the UNESCO Guide - where academic libraries should help its implementation - showing how it can help universities to develop their local infrastructure regarding electronic publishing and digital libraries. This guide can be an important tool for the bibliographic control of the electronic content. In addition, it can promote the diffusion of knowledge of the grey literature and the collaboration of universities spanning across all countries and borders. The ultimate effect may be the creation of a universal sustainable program for diffusion of knowledge, across all fields, including science, technology and culture. Finally, this guide could activate procedures for the creation and the electronic submission of the grey literature in Greek universities. |
