Preserving E-Theses Resource Pack

The Preserving e-Theses Resources Pack, developed by the Digital Preservation Coalition in partnership with the Open Book Futures project, provides practical, flexible guidance to help universities support the long-term accessibility and use of doctoral theses.

As theses become increasingly digital—and often include data, multimedia, code, and web-based content—ensuring they remain accessible and understandable over time presents new challenges. While universities are generally responsible for preserving theses, the way they are prepared and submitted can significantly affect access, use, and reuse in the future. These resources are intended to help staff involved in the PhD submission process understand the need for digital preservation of e-theses and to support students in this area.

About the Resource Pack

This resource pack is designed primarily for staff who support doctoral students, including those working in libraries, research support, and student services. It recognises that:

• Staff are well-placed to reach students through existing training, guidance, and submission processes.

• Awareness of long-term access issues may vary across different staff roles.

• Time for both staff and students is limited.

As a result, the resources aim to be:

• Concise and practical: Focused on the most important messages and actions

• Flexible and adaptable: Designed to be tailored according to local context and policy

• Easy to integrate: Suitable for use in existing training, guidance, and student support activities

The pack aims to support staff in reinforcing key ideas in their interactions with students, helping them make informed decisions throughout their PhD.

Resources were developed by the Digital Preservation Coalition in collaboration with the Open Book Futures project, drawing on scoping work with students and staff across the sector to identify key challenges and opportunities in supporting the long-term accessibility of doctoral theses. This included surveys, interviews, and focus groups, which informed both the design of the resource pack and the content of the materials. We are grateful to all those who contributed their time and insights to this work.

What’s included

The resource pack includes a set of modular resources that can be used individually or together:

Staff Orientation Guide

A short introductory resource providing context on why long-term access to e-theses matters and how it relates to thesis preparation and submission. It also includes an overview of the resource pack and how the materials can be used. It is designed to build confidence and understanding, particularly for staff who may be less familiar with digital preservation.

[Download]

Quick Guides (for students)

A set of short, focused guides covering the following topics:

• Choosing File Formats

• Copyright and Permissions

• Link Rot (Using Links that Last)

• Web Archiving

Each guide is designed for quick reading and practical use. They can be shared directly with students or incorporated into local resources. Institutions may wish to add links to relevant policies, guidance or support services, and tailor examples to reflect their context.

The Copyright and Permissions guide is based on UK copyright law, reflecting the UK focus of the Open Book Futures project. Institutions outside the UK are welcome to adapt this guide to align with their own local copyright frameworks and requirements.

Each Quick Guide is available for download as both a PDF and an editable Microsoft Word document:

• Choosing File Formats [Word Download / PDF Download]

• Copyright and Permissions [Word Download / PDF Download]

• Link Rot (Using Links that Last) [Word Download / PDF Download]

• Web Archiving [Word Download / PDF Download]

Future Proof Your Thesis: Five Principles to Support Long-Term Use

A concise, student-facing overview of key principles to support long-term access and use. This can be used at key points in the doctoral journey—such as induction or in the lead-up to submission—to introduce core concepts in an accessible way. Institutions may wish to embed this within existing guidance or adapt the language to align with local requirements.

[Download]

Staff Reference Guide

A practical “quick reference” for staff, bringing together key messages, prompts for conversations, and suggested responses to common questions. This can be used as a just-in-time resource when supporting students. The guide includes sections that are intended to be edited and expanded, such as frequently asked questions and local support contacts.

[Download]

“Leila & Grace” (introductory video)

 A brief (two-minute) video explaining why long-term access to theses matters. Aimed at students, it can be used to raise awareness—for example by embedding it in online guidance, or incorporating it into induction and training sessions.

Adapting the resources

The resource pack has been designed to be adapted and reused. As such, all materials are shared under a CC-BY-NC-SA Licence and written documents have been made available as both PDFs and editable Microsoft Word documents.

Universities are encouraged to:

• Add links to institutional policies, guidance, and support services

• Include locally relevant examples and frequently asked questions

• Edit content to align with local procedures and requirements

• Incorporate materials into existing training, workshops, and online guidance

Some sections are intentionally designed with placeholders or prompts to support this process.

Let us know what you think!

We are keen to hear how these resources are being used in practice. Have they been helpful? Is there anything that could be improved?

If you have feedback or are willing to share examples of how you have used, adapted, or incorporated these resources into your own guidance or training, we would love to hear from you. Email us at info@dpconline.org.