Undergraduate Theses in eScholarship@BC: a Part of Boston College’s Institutional Record
The Boston College Libraries make it possible for senior thesis students to archive their faculty-approved projects in eScholarship@BC, the Libraries’ digital repository. Archiving the work in the repository affirms that Boston College takes seriously the endeavors of seniors as aspiring scholars. The archive can be helpful to academic departments in documenting the accomplishments of their students, and in providing references and examples to future thesis writers. Faculty encouragement of senior thesis writers to place their work in the repository should add incentive for students to take their projects seriously and to adhere to the standards of proper scholarship. Students who undertake thesis projects, knowing that their work will be available to the wider scholarly community, could be impelled to higher levels of academic achievement. Additionally, students who give access to their theses beyond Boston College can include the permanent web address in their résumés for potential employers. Academic departments and their students can thus benefit from having theses archived in eScholarship@BC.
The eScholarship@BC program makes possible the preservation of the thesis work of undergraduates as part of the University’s institutional record. Archived theses are accessible either openly via the internet, or on Boston College campus premises only. Students, with guidance from their faculty advisors, can elect the most suitable type of access on the thesis deposit form.
The Libraries support thesis students who take advantage of the eScholarship@BC program in many ways, including research assistance provided by subject librarians during the writing phase, and procedural aid when the time comes for actual submission into the repository.
Guidelines and instructions for submitting a thesis to the repository can be found on the Undergraduate Theses Submission Guidelines page.
Examples of undergraduate theses archived in eScholarship@BC at present can be seen here .
Questions regarding the undergraduate thesis deposit program may be directed to Lopa Williams at lopa.williams@bc.edu .
