Following are highlights from the ETD 2025-USETDA 2025 Conference:
- The Big Event: It was the 28th international ETD symposium (ETD 2025) and the 15th US national ETD conference (USETDA 2025), held together!
- When & Where: This joint event was totally virtual via Zoom on September 25-26, 2025.
- The Vibe: The theme was “Exploring Global Connections.”
- What was included: The program packed a punch with two big panel discussions, two workshops, sixteen 50-minute deep-dive presentations (including user group meetings), and lots of chances to network.
- Missed a session? No worries! Everything was streamed live and recorded on Zoom.
- Thursday’s line-up: We held an intensive workshop (“ETDs for Beginners“), a panel on research ethics, and parallel sessions covering topics like cataloging, accessibility, converting PDFs to HTML, using LLMs for library discovery, and Vireo updates. Plus, there was an opening reception and a virtual cocktail party!
- Friday’s action: Highlights included a hands-on workshop discussing the use of AI for literature reviews, a panel comparing “Open Science” in India and the US, and parallel sessions on Digital Accessibility for LaTeX, dissertation structure, drafting AI-use policies, collection migration, AI copyright, ETD formatting, community talks, machine learning applications, national ETD repositories, and ETD management in Canada.
- Wrapping Up: Friday finished with a Closing session, recognizing Jannette Wright for the NDLTD Leadership Award, followed by sneak peeks at future conferences.
- Keep the Party Going: We encouraged everyone to continue to engage in the global ETD community, participate in group activities, and check out the NDLTD and USETDA member lists for colleagues.
- Wanna see the videos? Videos are available to all USETDA members via login. There are free and paid membership options.
- Heads up on videos: The 2025 conference video series also will be posted on the free USETDA YouTube channel in the coming months.
- Resources for you:
- Conference Program (pdf)
- Program Schedule (at-a-glance)
- Presentations List (including abstracts)
- Proceedings
- Sponsors
- Sponsor Exhibits
- Videos