Caltech Library System

Introduction

Definition of ETD

ETD Examples (from Virginia Tech)

Definition of an ETD

An ETD is a document that explains the research or scholarship of a graduate student. It is expressed in a form simultaneously suitable for machine archives and worldwide retrieval. The ETD is similar to its paper predecessor. It has figures, tables, footnotes, and references. It has a title page with the author's name, the official name of the university, the degree sought, and the names of the committee members. It documents the author's years of academic commitment. It describes why the work was done, how the research relates to previous work as recorded in the literature, the research methods used, the results, and the interpretation and discussion of the results, and a summary with conclusions.

The ETD is different, however, in that it provides a technologically advanced medium for expressing your ideas.  By submitting your ETD, you are participating in the evolution and advancement of the nature of scholarly communication.  ETDs may be enriched with supplemental files and spreadsheets, with hypertext links and other interactive features, as well as with audiovisuals and other capabilities far exceeding the possibilities of the print medium.  And participation in the Open Archives Initiative -- as well as inclusion in NDLTD -- vastly increases visibility and probable usage beyond that possible with the seldom-consulted traditional print theses.