Resistance to ETDs in Academe Diffusion of Innovation

Resistance to ETDs in Academe: Diffusion of Innovation Jude Edminster Bowling Green State University

Presentation Preview • Diffusion of Innovation Theory • Relative Advantages of ETDs • Compatibility with academic community norms and values • Complexity, Trialability, and Observability of ETDs • News from the Front

Diffusion of Innovation Theory • Diffusion: the process by which innovation is communicated through – particular channels – over time – within a particular social system • Diffusion is social change

Characteristics of Innovation • • • Relative Advantage Compatibility Complexity Trialability Observability

Characteristics of ETDs created in PDF • Most are identical to print. • Only a few contain links, color, or computer generated graphics. • Hierarchical and linear information structure prevails. • Alphabetic text retains centrality.

Relative Advantages of PDF • Amplified access (when unrestricted) – Boon to developing countries – Early notoriety for authors • Less space required for archiving – More timely cataloguing – Earlier availability

Characteristics of ETDs created in HTML • Comprises multisequential units of alphabetic text, visual information, sound, other data • Articulates all data by electronic links • Reveals the network of scholarly texts that underlie the dissertation • Accomodates a de-centered text

Relative Advantages of HTML • Allows researchers to organize information according to their own needs • Facilitates a cyclical, organic, intuitive research process • Radiates linked texts so as to place information in a broader context • Reveals multiple connections among theories, facts, investigations and disciplines

Relative Advantages of HTML • Engages readers on multiple cognitive levels • Encourages the meaning-making process of synaeshthesia • Promotes greater cognitive activity

Compatibility with Academic Social System • The social structure of academe affects the diffusion of ETDs in several ways: – Social system values and norms – Position of change agents within the system – Formal and interpersonal communication structure – Consequences of innovation to the operation of the system

Academic Social System Norms and Values • Representation of dissertation research as alphabetic text • Promotion of hierarchical faculty/student relationships • Maintenance of a community of learning and cooperation • Maintenance of a community of power and competition

Complexity • Students require special training to write ETDs that contain non-textual elements. • Faculty require special training to evaluate ETDs that contain non-textual elements.

Trialability • The use of pilot projects to develop and test new procedures required by ETD adoption: – Graduate school document processing – Library document processing and archiving – Student and faculty training programs

Observability • Viewable digital collections of ETDs online • Multiple language searching capability • Increased viewing of international research

Conclusion • Marketing ETDs to academic audiences requires: – An understanding of the diffusion process – Further research in identifying individuals and groups who possess the characteristics of early adopters – Successful location of support pockets within the university community