In 1995, the Graduate Program in Production Engineering of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (PPGEP/UFSC) digitalized and made available its theses and dissertations. From a digital document repository, the Theses and Dissertations Database (BTD) was changed into a system that combines bibliometry and informetry features. Statistics are maintained about all accesses to BTD. Besides knowledge producers (students and professors), BTD helps the decision makers and managers of the graduate system. They use it to measure interest and knowledge interchange among PPGEP research areas. This article presents the origin, main features, theoretical and functional bases of BTD, and perspectives for further development.
Digital libraries; Open archives; Informetry; Bibliometry; Electronic theses/dissertations; Information interchange and sharing; Knowledge management
