411 REFERENCE · Wikibooks
ETD Guide/Introduction/Minimize duplication of effort
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
One benefit of ETDs is a reduction in the needless repetition of investigations that
are carried out because people are unaware of the findings of other students who
have completed a TD. Except in unusual cases, masters’ theses are rarely reported
in databases (e.g., very few, except those from Canada, appear in UMI services
like Dissertation Abstracts). Few dissertations prepared outside North America
are reported either. With a globally accessible collection of ETDs, students can
quickly search for works related to their interest from anywhere in the world, and
in most cases examine and learn from those studies without incurring any cost.
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