Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Submitting the PDF File to the WFU ETD Database

• Browser Issues
• Getting Started
• The ETD Status Panel
• Naming Files
• Entering the Abstract
• Entering Keywords
• Special Characters/HTML Entities
• Email Contact
• Starting Over

Browser Issues

In order to use the ETD submission process, your Web browser must support cookies and file uploads. There are currently known incompatibilities with the Macintosh version of Netscape version 3.02, you will need to upgrade if you are using this version.

Enabling Cookies

A cookie is a bit of information about a user or session that is stored in a cookies.txt file by a compatible browser. Whenever the browser requests a page from a host for which it has cookie information, it also sends the cookie information along, which can be used by any scripts or CGI programs capable of processing cookie data. In our case, this cookie is used to store a unique session ID, so that it is not necessary for you to log in repeatedly before visiting each subsequent page in the process.

Most recent browsers come with cookies enabled, but people often disable them for various reasons. If your browser has cookies disabled, consult the documentation (online or otherwise) that comes with your browser for instructions on re-enabling cookies.

The session cookies issued by our scripts are set to expire in 15 minutes, but are renewed by each subsequent script. If you remain on the same page for more than 15 minutes, your cookie will expire, and you will be required to log in again. If this happens, you can still use the "back" button on your browser to return to the page you were working on before your cookie expired.

If you are using AOL, you must download and use a newer version of either Netscape Navigator, Mozilla or Internet Explorer in conjunction with your AOL account.

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Getting Started

To begin, go to the WFU login page to log in to the ETD submission process. If you do not have an account, you will be given the opportunity to create one.

Once you have begun the process of submitting your ETD, you will be able to use the same username and password to continue making changes to your information until your ETD is approved by the Graduate School. Preferably, this login name and password should differ from your WFU login and password as a security measure.

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The ETD Status Panel

After your login and password have been submitted, you will be taken to the 'ETD Database Login Successful' page and immediately redirected to the 'Status of ETD' page. On this page, use the navigation menu on the left to add a new record, edit an existing record, and upload additional files, including any tables, charts or images used by the document.

The submission process uses a persistent ETD Status message to keep you aware of what you've already done, and what still needs to be done before your ETD can be approved. You should also use this status window to navigate among the different steps of the submission process.

Pay special attention to any items in the status message which are displayed in red, these are items that need to be dealt with before your ETD can be approved.

Sample ETD Status message (links removed)

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Naming Files

As a rule, a correct filename will not contain any spaces or slashes and will be in all lower case. Use the following naming convention for your file:

lastnamefirstinitialmiddleinitial_month_year.pdf

This would result in a file name that looks like the following: jonesjd_05_2002.pdf.

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Entering Abstract

In general, you can copy and paste your abstract from a standard word processing program into the abstract field in your browser window. Be aware that special characters such as é and this section sign, §, often will not copy correctly if you cut and paste them into the form. Instead of these special characters, you should use the equivalent HTML entity (i.e. " instead of " and é instead of é). (See below).

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To improve access to your ETD, select keywords or phrases that are NOT already in your abstract or title page. All of those words are already indexed for searching. Selecting additional words and phrases that are descriptive and unique will increase the probability that searches will retrieve your ETD. Consult your chapter subheadings and conclusion for different but appropriate search terms. The MESH (Medical Subject Headings) Browser is available for selecting subject terms related to medicine. The Library of Congress Authoriey Headings Search is available for selecting subject headings in all subject areas. If you cut and paste your keywords from your word processor, you should be aware of any special characters (umlauts, accent marks, quotation marks), and replace them with the appropriate HTML entity.

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HTML entities

For a more complete list of HTML entities, please visit the following URL, which is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium:

http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-html40-970708/sgml/entities.html

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Email Contact

During the process of adding a record, you will be prompted to enter an email address. Please use a currently active email address so that you can receive confirmation regarding the submission of your electronic thesis/dissertation. The email address you will provide will be the one used for notices now and in the future as well.

However, it is probable that your email address will change in the near future and again after that. An easy way to keep your email address stable is to activate your ‘WIN Email Forwarding for Life’ feature. This allows alumni to have a Wake Forest address that forwards to the email account of your choice. The forwarding account can be changed at a moment’s notice by the alumnus using WIN, thus allowing your WFU alumni email address to remain the same by forwarding to the address of your choice. For instructions on setting up Email Forwarding for Life visit:

http://www.wfu.edu/alumni/win/master.html#7

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Starting Over

If you would like to stop work on a partially completed ETD and completely start over, the "Start Over" link in the ETD Status block that appears on most pages will give you the ability to completely remove all of the files and information you have already added and start again.