AUSpace lets grad students seamlessly store and share all kinds of thesis research
The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) and the AU Library have launched AUSpace, a new virtual space for graduate students to submit and house all manner of theses and dissertations, from videos and podcasts to images and datasets.
Part of a pilot project, AUSpace enhances the visibility and impact of AU research. AU is one of the first institutions to use this unique and cutting-edge technology.
The new platform allows students to upload multiple files and file types—including formats like MP4, films, podcasts, and other multimedia elements, making a thesis more accessible and attractive for many students.
“A lot of students may choose the thesis route if they have options for different types of thesis dissemination,” said Deanna Rausch, graduate thesis and academic records advisor. “It breaks open the kinds of scholarship we can produce and the scholarly conversation [we can have].”
For students who prefer a more traditional, monograph-style thesis, AUSpace lets them add materials like audio, video, datasets, and images.
AUSpace is part of the Scholaris national shared repository, so students can view the work of their peers from across Canada. Sharing their work in this way also helps researchers meet the requirements of funder groups that require the work to be publicly available. The materials in AUSpace are described and catalogued using rich metadata and made available online, ensuring long-term access and preservation to disseminate students’ work, said Rausch.
The capabilities of AUSpace will be particularly important for research informed by Indigenous methodologies and Ways of Knowing, added Rausch. A text-based thesis may not always be the most appropriate way to represent knowledge that is oral, relational, land-based, visual, performative, or developed with and for communities.
Alternate formats make space for students and their committees to determine how that knowledge can be represented and shared appropriately.
Deanna Rausch, graduate thesis and academic records advisor
How FGS can help students
Graduate students who are just starting to think about their research will benefit from the broader set of thesis options in AUSpace.
“This welcome transition strengthens the visibility, accessibility, and long-term preservation of our graduate students' outstanding scholarship, while providing enhanced support for innovative and multimodal research,” said Dr. Simon Sigué, interim dean of FGS.
Rausch encouraged graduate students to talk to FGS at the early stages of their research to explore the many options of AUSpace.
“You don’t need to have a fully formed ideas; bring me your hare-brained ideas. This is exactly what we want so see,” she said. “We want to see alternative theses and different kinds of work and scholarship.”
To learn more about using AUSpace or doing multi-media thesis research, students can contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies.