1. Find a Thesis or Dissertation
2. View the ETD Access FAQ
3. T&Ds at the TTU Grad School
4. ETDs at the Texas Digital Library

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Accessing ETDs

1. What are ETDs?
2. Who can access TTU ETDs and under what circumstances?
3. I'm looking for a particular thesis or dissertation. Where can I find it?
4. I can't find the ETD I'm looking for, but I know the author submitted it in 2005 or later.
5. Some theses and dissertations have supplemental materials—such as CDs—included with them. How are these represented in the ETD system?
6. How do I read files with the .PDF extension?
7. When I try to open the files associated with a particular ETD, it tells me that I don't have permission to open them.
8. One of the files in the ETD system won't open—I think it may be corrupt.

1. What are ETDs?

   ETDs are Electronic Theses and Dissertations—that is, Masters theses and Doctoral dissertations that exist in electronic format, as opposed to print.

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2. Who can access TTU ETDs and under what circumstances?

   When submitting ETDs, students have a choice of releasing them for immediate worldwide access, releasing them for access to users that are only on the Texas Tech University campus, or withholding access to them completely for a period of one year.

   Texas Tech University's ETD collection consists of ETDs that are freely available as well as those that are restricted to on-campus access. Anyone worldwide who is interested in browsing the collection can do so using a standard Web browser, and they can download the full text of all ETDs that students have released for immediate, unrestricted access. Only on-campus users, however, can download those ETDs that have restricted availability. Those that are completely withheld from public access are not included in the collection at all until they become available.

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3. I'm looking for a particular thesis or dissertation. Where can I find it?

   If it was written and submitted in 2004 or earlier, then you can find it in the library's online catalog—please visit the Find a Thesis or Dissertation pagefor multiple methods of searching and browsing the catalog. Such theses and dissertations are available from the library in print format.

   On the other hand, if the thesis or dissertation was submitted after January 1st, 2005, then you can find it by browsing the ETD system. Tip: In this system, you can type control-f and then enter part of the author's name, the title, or the department to find what you are looking for more quickly.

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4. I can't find the ETD I'm looking for, but I know the author submitted it in 2005 or later.

   All available ETDs are listed on the ETD page. Any ETDs that are not listed might be currently withheld at the author's request, meaning that nobody can access it. In such a case, you must contact the author and request a copy directly from him or her.

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5. Some theses and dissertations have supplemental materials—such as CDs—included with them. How are these represented in the ETD system?

   When submitting their ETDs, students can upload multiple files. All of these files are then listed on that ETD's record within the system when you try to access it, and you can click on each file to view it. For example, an ETD written about a student's musical composition might have a PDF file describing the work as well as an MP3 file that is a recording of the work. Users can then download and view each file separately.

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6. How do I read files with the .PDF extension?

   Most of the ETDs in the system are available as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. To view them, you can download Adobe Reader for free. Once you've installed the program, simply restart your browser (or your computer, if necessary) and click on the ETD file to open it.

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7. When I try to open the files associated with a particular ETD, it tells me that I don't have permission to open them.

   You are trying to access a restricted ETD from a computer that is not located on the Texas Tech University network. In order to gain access to the ETD in question, you must come to TTU and use a computer that is located on campus.

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8. One of the files in the ETD system won't open—I think it may be corrupt.

   Some of the ETD files are very large and may take several minutes to open if you left click on them and open them in your browser. If you are having trouble opening a file, try right clicking on it and selecting "Save As" or "Save Link As." This will allow you to download the entire file to your local machine, where it should open much more easily.

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TTU Libraries are not responsible for the content of external sources. For questions about this page, contact Jason Thomale, Metadata Librarian. [v] (806) 742-2238 x317 [f] (806) 742-8669 [e]

This page last modified on 4 Oct 2006, 11:46.