Dr. Vinod Chachra to Speak at ETD 2009 Symposium, Pittsburgh

VTLS Inc. announces that Dr. Vinod Chachra, VTLS President and CEO, will be speaking at the ETD 2009 Symposium in Pittsburgh, PA. The symposium will be held June 10 – 13 at the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Chachra’s talk is scheduled for the Platforms/Demos Plenary Panel Session on June 12 at 3:00 p.m.

The presentation will describe the structure and use of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) Union catalog. Dr. Chachra will discuss how the data is harvested, indexed, and made available for access, and will provide statistical information on the size of the database (currently more than 750,000 ETDs) and its source (broken down by continent, country, and language). He will also highlight usage statistics showing the source, frequency, and pages viewed, and provide pointers on what other institutions can do with their metadata to make dissertations more accessible to users worldwide.

The ETD 2009 Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations is organized by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. The NDLTD initiative is an open federation of hundreds of universities and supporting organizations worldwide including research institutions and private companies. To learn more about the ETD 2009 Symposium, visit www.library.pitt.edu/etd2009

NDLTD Executive Director Ed Fox remarks, "VTLS continues to demonstrate its generous support for ETD activities, thus making a far-sighted contribution to global scholarship and research."