To Restrict or not to Restrict Access: The PhD Candidate’s Intellectual Property Dilemma

(1)

To Restrict or not to Restrict Access: The PhD Candidate’s Intellectual Property

Dilemma

By Kimberly Douglas

Caltech Library System library@caltech.edu

ETD 2003 Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

(2)

Caltech

285 Tenure-track faculty

1000 Postdoctoral researchers 900 Undergraduates

1100 Graduate students

$450M Annual Operating Budget

~2000 Peer-Reviewed Papers/Yr 150 PhDs per year

(3)

Caltech Library System

• 53 FTEs (14 Librarians, 6 IT Staff)

• 4 Libraries

• 600,000 Volumes

• 3556 Paid Print- Journal Subscriptions

• 2500 Paid E-Journal Subscriptions

• $7,100,000 Annual Budget (FY 03)

(4)

Scope of Study

Learn how graduate students make decisions regarding global access to their

theses.

Based on set of submitted ETDs during the voluntary phase at Caltech, ask the authors

why they restricted or withheld access to their ETD.

(5)

Questions posed

• 1a What was the specific concern that you addressed by restricting access to your ETD to within the Caltech

network only?

OR

• 1b. What was the specific concern that you addressed by withholding access to your ETD

• 2. Was the action to restrict (or withhold) a joint decision with your thesis advisor?

• 3. Do you have a date in mind to release access to your whole thesis? If so, what date? If not, what reason?

• Please feel free to make any other comments regarding the

(6)

Quantitative Data

Total

# Theses

#

Withhld # Restrictd

Whole Thesis

# Restrictd

Portion

Total Withhld

or Restrictd

Survey Respond

Biol 9 3 3 0

Chem 12 2 2 1 5 3

Eng 22 4 1 5 4

Geol 8 1 1 2 1

Math 1 1 1 1

Phys 11 1 1 0

(7)

Q1: Why withhold or restrict?

• 2 – Fear of theft of unpublished work currently in patent process

• 4 – Waiting for publication of peer- reviewed paper

• 1 – Couldn’t remember why

• 1 – Do not have permission to publish date in electronic format

(8)

Q2: Advisor involvement

• Chemistry yes (3)

• Engineering no (3)

• Geology yes (1)

• Math no (1)

(9)

Q3: When will thesis be fully released?

• Chemistry 1 yr / after patent / when paper is published

• Engineering 5 years “to be safe” / can be done now / no answer

• Geology in a few months

• Math in March or April 2003

(10)

Conclusions

• Graduate Students want to share results

– Need education as to the rights of authors

• Advisors play major role where patents are involved

– Involve Technology Transfer and faculty in ETD sessions with graduate students, esp. in Chemistry

• Proactive management of withheld and

restricted theses would result in release of more papers