Abstract
This study examined the occurrence of color in dissertations and theses produced at the Pennsylvania State University over a nine year period. Since the most common preservation method for dissertations and theses is monochromatic microfilming, traditional treatment may result in a loss of information encoded in color in these resources. Results indicate a significant increase in the use of color over the time period studied. Variations in the amount of color use by discipline were also observed. Implications related to monochromatic microfilming and recommendations for long term preservation are discussed.
Acknowledgments
Support for this study was provided by the Nancy L. Eaton Libraries Endowment Grant. Jeff Amate and Nancy Brown assisted us with data gathering and we thank them. Finally, the comments by the reviewers were very helpful and greatly improved this work.