No additional bound volumes of senior theses will join the 63,000-plus that are stored in Mudd Library’s basement. In a leap into the digital age, Mudd will save only PDFs of senior theses beginning with the Class of 2013; they will be searchable from any computer within the University network through Princeton’s digital repository, DataSpace. Theses from prior years will continue to be available in paper format; the library said there are no plans to systematically convert those to a digital format.
Doctoral dissertations have been available online since the last academic year, though students can choose to restrict access. The Senior Thesis Collection is Mudd’s most frequently used collection.
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2 Responses
Sev Onyshkevych ’83
8 Years AgoDon’t give up paper theses
Re “Senior thesis moves into the digital era” (Campus Notebook, Dec. 12): There is a visceral feeling to a bound, paper thesis that is impossible to replicate digitally. Even though I was a computer science/electrical engineering major, so my thesis was optional and submitted electronically, I think it is grossly unacceptable to stop storing paper theses. At worst, the paper format should be optional; those who submit a thesis on paper should have this paper format preserved for posterity.
Clearly, the fact that paper theses are the most-requested items from Mudd Library indicates that there is demand for such. Why not let the free market decide: There is demand, we should continue the supply, and not make the decision based on some ukase from some petty central-planning bureaucrat.
Editor’s note: The new policy at Mudd Library means seniors now will be required to hand in a PDF of their thesis to their department, according to Pascale Poussart, the director of undergraduate research. The change doesn’t affect other departmental requirements for the thesis, so students will continue to hand in bound theses if required by their department.
Kristin Epstein ’97
8 Years AgoDon’t give up paper theses
Why not digitally archive the old ones to make room for the new?
Editor’s note: The new policy at Mudd Library means seniors now will be required to hand in a PDF of their thesis to their department, according to Pascale Poussart, the director of undergraduate research. The change doesn’t affect other departmental requirements for the thesis, so students will continue to hand in bound theses if required by their department.