Digital Thesis Deposit

This page will provide you with instructions on how to PDF and deposit the digital copy of your thesis. If you need help with depositing your electronic thesis or have questions, please contact your Subject Librarian.

Preparing your files for Deposit

Complete this process before you fill in the online Deposit Form. Please note that to create your PDFs and complete the deposit process may take 20 – 30 minutes. You can PDF and deposit your thesis from anywhere.

Create a PDF of your Thesis

• Save your completed PDF with the file name: thesis
• It is important not to put any security restrictions on your PDF. This interferes with the ability of the Library to preserve your digital thesis into the future.

Word 2007 / 2010

If you have Word 2007 / Word 2010 you can convert your Word Document to a PDF file using the Save As option. Choose PDF from the save as type drop down menu.

Adobe Writer in the Library

The Library has Adobe Writer software available for more complex PDF requirements, such as editing a document already in PDF format or creating a PDF from multiple document formats. Contact your Subject Librarian for help and to arrange access to the software. Make sure your files are available from your H:Drive or on a USB stick so that you can access them.

Off-Campus

If you are off-campus and do not have the conversion software on your computer, you can use a free PDF conversion facility for 5 items at https://acrobat.com/#page=signup_only&su=1

Unable to convert to PDF

If you are unable to convert your file(s) to PDF, please deposit in any format and the Research Commons administrators will convert to PDF.

Supplementary material

If your work includes supplementary material such as images, sound or movie files and data that are separate from the text of the main thesis, please deposit them along with your thesis document. It is best to name these files with a descriptive name, for example, fishdata.xls. Multiple files can also be included in a .zip format. Research Commons supports most file formats. If you have any queries about this process, please contact the Research Commons administrators at researchcommons@waikato.ac.nz, phone (07) 838 4466 ext.6224.

Deposit your digital thesis

Fill in the Deposit Form.

There is a step-by-step guide to using the deposit form available. If you have any problems with the deposit process, please contact the Research Commons administrators at researchcommons@waikato.ac.nz, phone (07) 838 4466 ext.6224.

During the deposit process, you must enter an email address for either your Waikato email account or any other email account that you access regularly. This will enable you to save the details as you proceed so that you do not necessarily have to complete the deposit in one session. It will also be the address to which emails about your deposit will be sent.

If you have already prepared your files, the deposit process should not take you very long. You will be given the opportunity to view the data you have entered and to make changes before completing the process.

Once deposited, the information you have entered will be checked by University staff. You will receive an email as soon as your thesis has been approved, or if for some reason there is a problem with your deposit. The details of your deposit will also be emailed to you.

Now you can deposit the print copies of your thesis at the SASD Assessment and Graduation Office (Masters) or the Postgraduate Studies Office (Higher Degrees) offices in the Gateway. If you need to embargo your thesis, consult SASD or the PGSO. They will help you with the embargo process. You are still required to submit a digital copy of your thesis at the time you submit the print copies.

Your thesis will be made available for the public to access only after your final passing grade is achieved and your print copies have also been submitted. Once your thesis has been made live, it will be accessible through the Library Catalogue, and Research Commons and will also be found by web search engines.

Problem solving

If you try to make a PDF of your table of contents, you might find that you get "book mark undefined" error messages. This is because the PDF reader is trying to make links to chapters in your document that don't exist.

If you have any other problem with Word tags during the PDF process or if Word renumbers your pages a solution may be to save a copy of your thesis, and select all text in the saved copy (Edit-> Select All). Press Ctrl+6 to remove all Word field codes, and PDF this version.

If you have used graphs which distort during the PDF process you can PDF the chapters separately and then combine the PDFs into one file. You can use the same method to scan, then PDF and insert, separate material like illustrations or plates. To PDF multiple documents as one file, use the Adobe writer software available in the Library.