Reference Rot in the Repository: A Case Study of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) in an Academic Library
This study examines ETDs deposited during the period 2011-2015 in an institutional repository, to determine the degree to which the documents suffer from reference rot. The authors converted and examined 664 doctoral dissertations in total. The results serve to emphasize not only the necessity of broader awareness of this problem, but also to stimulate action on the preservation front.