COLLOQUY The question
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COLLOQUY The question
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 For the last year, Virginia Tech has required all graduate students to submit their theses and dissertations in digital form. The university argues that the requirement allows the use of the World-Wide Web to disseminate the students' findings, promoting the exchange of ideas and giving scholars more access to one another's work. Proponents also point out that graduate students can enhance their dissertations electronically in many ways -- using sound and images, for example -- that would be impossible on paper. Critics, however, say that using the Web to make theses widely available ignores the value of the peer-review system in deciding when research is ready for publication. Some critics also say that the requirement burdens graduate students with having to learn technological skills that are irrelevant to their research. The critics also say that electronic publication of dissertations may make it more difficult for students to publish their findings in books or journals. Should other institutions adopt the Virginia Tech requirement? Is digital technology likely to enhance any dissertation or just some? Are requirements like the one at Virginia Tech better from the perspective of the graduate students, their professors, or both? For further background information, see this Chronicle story
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