SGML/XML-based electronic theses and dissertations: Existing projects and standards

Over the past few years, electronic publishing has entered the realm of scholarly works and communication. Institutions have seen a gradual change from the “traditional” paper copy texts to an electronic, digital format. Masters and doctoral students now have the capability to create an electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD) that integrates multimedia, sound, pictures, and animation. The emergence of new technologies enables students to go beyond the creation of an electronic version of the paper copy, they now have the capability to express their artistic design by creating a multimedia ETD. This article addresses issues connected with the development of standards, copyright, and format, along with an overview of several ETD projects.