Digital Theses: A Revolution Through the Lens of Boadicea

Abstract

Theses are an extraordinarily significant part of the scholarly ecosystem. For researchers, they are often the cornerstone of their career by establishing and communicating their professional knowledge. Boadicea’s journey and contribution to the overthrow of the Romans is used as a metaphor for the transition of theses to participate in and conquer the new digital environment through the activities libraries. The contemporary scholarly ecosystem provides for a transformation that takes theses from a place on the “dusty shelves” of libraries to works which have high impact and achieve international visibility. This paper reports on activities across Australia and New Zealand to open access to theses, together with a deep dive to reveal the community demand for theses in the fields of humanities and social science. The relationship of theses to the scholarly knowledge system and perceived barriers are assessed using a survey of academics. Key issues for the future in terms of the open access policy environment in the context of researchers’ careers are identified. Show more