For example, dissertations placed on the Internet may be accessed quickly using Web browsers, bypassing the waiting period involved when a paper or microfilm copy of a dissertation must be ordered, and it will be less costly for individuals to access dissertations in this manner. Images, sound, and moving images may be incorporated into digital format, thus allowing for the communication of information that is otherwise more difficult to capture through prose only. Particular information within a dissertation can be located more readily through use of word searches. Digital dissertations require less space to store than paper dissertations, and facilities such as libraries are already moving to the digital medium to store materials in order to conserve space as well as to make information more accessible to a variety of users. Digital dissertations may be more environmentally friendly because they reduce costs associated with copying on paper.
Digital dissertations have portability advantages.
Cautions about using digital-only formats at this time include potential problems with the longevity of information stored using current technologies, unequal global and local distribution of technologies necessary to access this information, lack of standardization of technologies to access the information, current preferences in disciplines and of individual faculty who may wish to continue to use print media, current lack of clarity about the location of archiving digital documents. Recommendations of the Committee Despite the cautions of moving toward digital dissertations, the committee was nearly unanimous in recommending that The University of Texas move forward with permitting and eventually requiring that all dissertations be deposited in some digital format. As of May 1997, in the case of either digital or paper dissertations, an informative abstract in the other medium should also be submitted. By May 2001, the Graduate Assembly and the University should require all doctoral candidates to submit a digital copy of their dissertation for archival purposes in the PCL, although paper copies may also be submitted based on individual GSC requirements as long as the library will accept them. Control of access to digital dissertations should follow current procedures for paper dissertations.