Our concepts of research methodology, the authority of knowledge, and the shape of content are being radically challenged. It is difficult to imagine what dissertations or academic digital libraries will look like ten years from now. Today's researchers and scholars challenge the conventions of linear texts, one inch margins, and texts written for extremely narrow audiences. They integrate video, audio, animation, and graphics. They create interactive elements, including real-time video, online writing labs, and pivot tables.
Graduate students defend proposals and dissertations online.
At some universities, it is even possible to complete a dissertation without printing a word. Faculty can serve on dissertation committees at universities distant from their home campuses. Presently, graduate students can reach a significant reading audience, create interactive documents, and incorporate streaming video in their research presentations. The term ETD refers to a Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation that is archived electronically. Digital libraries of theses and dissertations enable a university widely to distribute the intellectual work of its graduates and to introduce its students to the Knowledge Age.