It is proposed that Washington State University establish a procedure to receive doctoral dissertations in digital format via CD-ROM or a networked server and submit those documents to UMI for publication in digital format. Doctoral candidates would then have the choice of submitting their dissertations in either paper, digital or mixed media format. Benefits UMI has designed their services to meet the growing demand for electronic access to scholarly publications. Free access to the most current two years of the Dissertation Abstracts database. Authors retain copyright and receive royalties from UMI when sales warrant.
Authors maintain control over the distribution of their dissertations.
Continuation of a stable publishing environment with known costs and procedures and one that supports the transition to digital publishing. A permanent microform archive and reliable data refreshing and migration to storage media as technology evolves. Further, UMI will provide 1. A Web-based bulletin board which will announce upcoming dissertation defenses. This service will provide WWW announcement of recent research to scholars with similar interests and an opportunity for those about to graduate to reach prospective employers.