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Outline:
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Writing a thesis demands substantial writing skills, but for artists, engineers and scientists, can also demand the coherent display of visual information. This session shows some examples of theses which use digital and paper media to present words and images. Students ideally should
have previously attended the 'Writing a Thesis' session
run by the Graduate Research School: |
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For general referencing rules, see: http://www.citeulike.org Even 'conventional' theses have firm rules for the use of images, so that they can be referenced properly and listed in the contents. This means that others can find them accurately, discuss them, and take them seriously. A simple and useful guide to the layout and parts of a paper PhD thesis can be found in Allison (1993; 1996). For how to reference films, web sites etc., see Doull (1998). For more details on referencing maps, illustrations, music and the kitchen sink, see British Standards Institution (1990). The general rule is, collect as much data as you can as you go along for each image, including artist, title, size, materials, duration, location, date, museum collection, etc. If you're looking at a reproduction of an artwork in a book, you'll need all the details of where in which book it is, and you need to be aware that it may be a poor reproduction with the wrong colour balance - might this change your reading of the image? If it's a photograph of an artwork/installation/sculpture, you need to make sure that it is a good photo, and you should credit the photographer. |
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Kevin Petrie (1999) has used both full-page and smaller colour photographs to illustrate his thesis. These can be simply included in a word-processing document, and printed out on a colour laser-copier. Currently laser-copies are more archivally stable than ink-jet prints, but this may change. As well as the traditional lists of figures and tables, he has also listed (p. ix-x) the ceramic objects that he 'submitted' as part of his dissertation and were seen by the external examiner, but which weren't (obviously) bound in with the thesis. |
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Per Mollerup's (1997) book about trademarks is his PhD thesis. He uses simple graphic layouts to arrange images for maximum sense in relation to the text, and in relation to each other, so that viewers can compare and contrast. It can be read on several levels, and meets the referencing and structural demands of a thesis. It looks nice too (Mollerup does, however, have his own design company!) |
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Beryl Graham's (1997) thesis is basically a conventional written thesis, with black and white images, but the document also includes an exhibition catalogue as an appendix, and a CD-ROM which contains a PDF version of the thesis (with colour images instead of black and white, and short video clips where relevant). PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and are made via Adobe Acrobat software. It is fairly simple to make PDF files from existing Word or HTML (web) files, and like HTML, is one of the simpler ways of combining words, images, video and hot-links or hypertext. They retain the correct layout and type styles so that they can be printed out correctly, which is useful because it is very difficult to read a sustained length of text from a computer screen. PDF files can include ready-made contents pages and word-search functions, and can be put on the Internet. |
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Jan Hogarth (1999) worked with a multimedia design student to create the multimedia CD-ROM element of her thesis (which also included a paper element). The multimedia is mostly a descriptive analysis of her series of seven artworks, with some references to background and contextual work by other artists. It uses some links between related sections, but doesn't use hypertext extensively. The paper element included pages from her artist's sketchbook, which combine drawings, photos and text (low-tech multimedia?) Making multimedia with software such as Director demands a higher level of knowledge than PDF or HTML, but enables some more sophisticated visual effects. |
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The 'data' that you gather during your research may be numbers, or it may be words and images. Databases such as FileMaker Pro can deal with all of these, and then present them in any combination or style, analyse their frequency, make calculations, find certain words, quotes or dates etc. etc. FileMaker Pro is also compatible with Excel spreadsheets (and web sites), so that you can make graphs, frequency maps or pie charts in any colour you like. All from the same set of original data. You can also download data from various on-line databases, and integrate it with your own. Databases have obviously useful and labour-saving applications during a research process, but can also be used for dissertation presentation: |
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Katie Bunnell (1998) used a database during her research process, and also as the means of presenting her thesis purely on CD-ROM (possibly the first one published in the UK). Her thesis sections approximately tally with those in a conventional thesis, but some sections arrange information in a non-linear way (although digital media can offer non-linear presentation of information, the previous examples are all primarily linear in structure). Debate has raged for many years around 'linear' vs. 'holistic' styles of learning: what is clearest for one person maybe unclear for another. A consistent challenge for hypertext/web/multimedia designers is how to make the knowledge clear, and avoid 'getting lost'. Getting advice from experts is essential for those tackling digital media. Print this form to make critical notes for your own use on the five examples discussed so far. |
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Some information is best represented in three dimensions. As both paper and computer screens are two dimensional, and your 'readers' are unlikely to be wearing a VR ('Virtual reality') headset, there are various software options which offer some compromises: QuickTime VR is cheap and cheerful, and enables users to 'move around in' or 'rotate' photographic images of actual 3D scenes or objects. Web compatible. [examples: Apple QuickTime VR site] |
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Archiving, distribution and publication After the blood, sweat and tears of making your thesis, is anyone going to see it? Complete theses in the UK were formerly sent to the British Library, and recorded on microfilm (now only the contents pages and the abstract tend to be sent). Many regulations regarding theses were based on the needs of microfilm, hence the stipulations for black-and-white images only, etc. But your paper thesis should still be reproducible (imagine it photocopied) and clear. As for digital formats, even the British Standards Institute haven't yet recommended a format, but the UK is rather lagging in this: The main U.S. Internet database of dissertations (The Dissertation Abstracts Database) now takes and distributes theses in PDF format, and is converting existing paper documents to PDF. Abstracts can be searched, and whole documents can be downloaded from their Internet site. The Australian Digital Theses Project also uses PDF along with SGML. Virginia Tech now stipulates that its students must submit dissertations in digital format, and shows interesting examples from the humanities. They use PDF, SGML, and ETD-ML. Malins and Gray (1999) have written about some digital theses in the UK. A copy of each completed thesis should be lodged in the University library, and available via inter-library loan. Digital formats mean that theses are easier to mail on CD or to get instantly via the Internet, but on the other hand a large book is more difficult to lose. If you use an unusual digital format, there's a danger that the format will die before you do (remember Betamax?). As for reaching a wider
public, publications such as Mollerup's
(1997) book are
rather rare, due to the difficulties of resolving
academic demands with commercial needs. CD-ROMs are much
cheaper than books to produce, and short runs are
possible, but they must be of good quality. Often,
researchers draw from their research material to present
varied articles, catalogues or exhibits to other
audiences. Also, researchers may include catalogues or
articles as appendices in their thesis, as long as they
are relevant (rather than just status
symbols!) |
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Treat images seriously in relation to quality, referencing and 'articulate images'. Images can be articulate within paper documents. Digital media offer moving images and non-linear structures, but demand good technical and information design skills. Whatever the media, get advice from a designer where necessary, and get plenty of feedback from potential 'users' all the way along.
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References for this session (see also full bibliography) Allison, Brian (1993) A guide to dissertation preparation. Leicester: Ariad associates. Allison, Brian (1996). Research skills for students. London: Kogan Page. British Standards Institution, (1990) BS 5605:1990, Recommendations for citing and referencing published material. London: British Standards Institution. Bunnell, Katie (1998) The integration of new technology into ceramic designer-maker practice. [CD-ROM]. Published PhD thesis. Aberdeen: The Robert Gordon University. CRIAD, Practice-based research [Online]. Available from URL: <http://www.rgu.ac.uk/subj/ats/r1.htm> [Accessed 16 May 2000]. Doull, Jeanette (1998) Finding information for your postgraduate dissertation. Sunderland: University of Sunderland. Graham, Beryl (1997). A study of audience relationships with interactive computer-based visual artworks in gallery settings, through observation, art practice, and curation. Unpub. PhD thesis, University of Sunderland. Gray, C. and Pirie, I. (1995). '"Artistic' research procedure: Research at the edge of chaos?". In: Proceedings of Design Interfaces Conference Vol.3. The European Academy of Design. Salford: University of Salford. (This is also available as a PDF file from the RGU web site). Hogarth, Jan (1999). 'Dislocated landscapes': A sculptor's response to contemporary issues within the British landscape. Unpub. PhD thesis, University of Sunderland. Johnston, Laura (1997) The innovative application of the coated glass surface in architecture. Unpub. PhD thesis, University of Sunderland. Malins, Julian and Carole Gray (1999) "The digital thesis: Recent developments in practice-based PhD research in art and design." Digital Creativity 10 (1). 18-28. Mollerup, Per (1997) Marks of excellence. The history and taxonomy of trademarks. London: Phaidon. Petrie, Kevin (1999) Water-based ceramic transfer printing. The development and creative use of a new on-glaze screenprinting system. Unpub. PhD thesis, University of the West of England, Bristol.
DRAFT: last updated 21
Feb 2001 Beryl Graham |
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