NEWS

ProQuest Chosen by University of Manchester to Digitize Theses

Company’s digitization and curation expertise, extensive metadata creation, and increased discovery factor in the decision to expand partnership

To preserve and promote its world-class research, the University of Manchester has signed a two-year Digital Archiving and Access Program (DAAP) agreement with ProQuest. In the first year alone, ProQuest will digitize thousands of theses, improving worldwide access and preserving them for generations of researchers. 

The discoverability and usage of dissertations can increase exponentially via the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (PQDT) database, which is used at 3,000 universities worldwide. Enhanced with metadata created by subject matter experts, the content is disseminated by 35 major subject and disciplinary indexes.

“Through our ongoing work with ProQuest, we’ve been impressed by the digitization expertise, extensive metadata creation and increased discovery the company provides,” said Sandra Bracegirdle, Head of Content, Collections and Discovery from The University of Manchester Library. “When we sought a solution to help us enhance discoverability and preservation of our extensive legacy collection, ProQuest’s high profile in the promotion of research and theses made them the obvious partner for this endeavor.”

“ProQuest believes in and is always eager to support the important work of our customers. Protecting, preserving and improving the discoverability of excellent research is central to our mission,” said Austin McLean, Director, Scholarly Communication and Dissertations Publishing. “We’re confident that improved accessibility of The University of Manchester’s theses will contribute invaluable research insights for scholars around the globe. It’s an honor to be entrusted with the digitization of these works.”

DAAP is an efficient, cost-effective way to preserve the valuable output of graduate research undertaken at an institution. Digitization increases the visibility of research output within the academic community across a range of dissemination channels. In addition, development of a digital collection of dissertations and theses saves libraries time, reclaims space and reduces costs. ProQuest preserves the content in both analog and digital formats.

The DAAP agreement is an expansion of an existing relationship between the University and ProQuest. The company has been providing Manchester’s students and researchers with access to expertly curated historical archives as well as supplying print and electronic books.

www.manchester.ac.uk/library
http://www.proquest.com