University Microfilms International
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University Microfilms International, UMI, was founded in the 1930s by Eugene Power in Ann Arbor. By June of 1938, Power worked in two rented rooms from a downtown Ann Arbor funeral parlor, specializing in microphotography to preserve libraries. This was the foundation of University Microfilms International and Proquest.
Soon after Power "proposed filming dissertations," which provided "graduate students with an economical alternative to offset printing as a means of meeting their doctoral publication requirements."[1] Currently, the majority of educational institutions in North America publishes its doctoral dissertations through UMI.
By 1989, "UMI went back to its World War II roots by establishing a Preservation Division dedicated to capturing and preserving intellectual content being lost to material deterioration."[2]
In 1995, UMI made selected databases available online without charge, which is the origins of ProQuest Online Information Service. The Library of Congress recognizes as the "official offsite repository for dissertations and theses in electronic format."[3]
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The idea of universal adoption of microfilm publication of doctoral dissertations was furthered considerably by two articles researched and written by a recent recipient of the doctorate in History at Stanford University. Vaughn Davis Bornet seized on the idea and published "Doctoral Dissertations and the Stream of Scholarship." In College and University. October, 1952, pp. 11-30, and "Microfilm Publication of Doctoral Dissertations." In Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors. Autumn, 1953. pp. 503-513. In a courteous letter, the president of University Microfilms thanked Bornet and graciously acknowledged that the articles had furthered the goal of general acceptance of microfilm publication nationally.
