Deletion from catalog?

[Sally R. Evans]

Greetings from the USETDA 2016 conference!

I have an issue that I'm dealing with that I'm hoping you may be able to solve.

I've recently been in communication with a former student who submitted her thesis to George Mason University in 2001. In her original message, she stated "I completed my MA thesis at GMU in 2001. It appears online under [link to Google Books]. I have not given my permission to GMU to circulate my thesis nor to books.google. Could you kindly remove this page and all pages associated with it?"

It's not an ETD; we didn't even start our ETD program until 2007. At that time, everything was paper.

I got my division head, the Associate University Librarian for Digital Programs, involved. We looked into the issue and found that it was not her actual thesis; it was only a citation.

We wrote get back, told her what was going on, and that she was showing up because our catalog records are also in OCLC. She responded: "I’m glad this all makes sense! Then how do I get to remove my thesis and my name from Google books or OCLC as I do not wish my name / thesis to even be mentioned online? Do I need to remove my work from GMU’s catalogue?"

Before I came to Mason in 2011, there were two paper theses that were allowed to be embargoed because of threats against the authors' lives. Otherwise, everything else is on the shelf and in the catalog.

I'm going to follow up with her to ask if she is in a similar situation. If her only reason is simply "I don't want to be online," then I don't know that her request warrants removal. However, I don't want to respond until I have all the facts.

When I get back to my office, I'll do some further research into policies, precedents, etc., but for now, I'm hoping for some input.

Has anyone ever had a similar experience? Have you ever removed someone from the catalog at their request? If so, why? Did their document stay on the shelf/in the repository?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Sally

Sally Evans
Coordinator
University Dissertation and Thesis Services
George Mason University

[Babcock, Renee E]

Hi Sally, the only time (outside our Creative Writing MFA theses) our dean has approved a request to embargo an ETD from our repository permanently was because the student was a foreign student and publishing the thesis would likely have put their family in their home country at risk. The student and their supervisor provided some fairly compelling documentation to go with it. 

I’m not sure about the older theses and dissertations that are paper, since those requests don’t come through our office (only the requests to remove an ETD come to us).  Even our library catalog is completely online, so at the very least, the fact a dissertation exists and its location is still discoverable online. I also can’t think there's really any real way to keep something even from appearing online as a citation. It seems to me that’s the whole point of scholarship in the first place. 

Given that we are a state institution, and that we have a statement in the catalog that we require open access publication of our ETDs, we are able to let students who have questions know our justification for making everything public. But our deans are always willing to take a look at unusual cases, provided there’s some very real documentation behind it, and not, as you say, the student simply not wanting something to appear online. 

Renee

Renee E. Babcock, Ph.D. | Degree Plan Evaluator III | Graduate School | The University of Texas at Austin | (512) 232-3629

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[Sally R. Evans]

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. I'm currently looking for policies that state some or all of the following: "All theses and dissertations must be held in the library" and "Everything held in the library must be listed in the catalog" and "Everything in the catalog is subject to OCLC harvesting."

I asked the former student if there was some extenuating circumstance (i.e., harm would come to her or someone else because this citation appears online), but she has not responded. I also asked if she wants the entire document removed from our catalog, but, again, no response.

I appreciate the help I've received so far, and further appreciate any future advice/input.

Thank you,

Sally