Nieuws - 21 januari 2010

101 dollar thesis

Bachelor's dissertation for sale on Amazon.com. Publisher contacted student through Facebook.

Do you want to publish your Bachelor dissertation? It is possible. Niels Zoeteman's Bachelor's dissertation Standpipe Is Solution Of Water Problem!?: The New Standpipe management model for Mozambique was published. Niels graduated from Van Hall Larenstein as a Land and Water Manager in September 2008. Last year someone at VDM Publishers, which publishes academic Bachelor's and Master's dissertations, got in touch with him through Facebook. They had come across Zoeteman's dissertation through the Van Hall Larenstein digital library and were interested in it.
Free copy
'At first I thought it was a joke', says Niels. But his dissertation containing recommendations for the network of public standpipes in Mozambique is now for sale on Amazon.com for 101 dollars. In paperback, note. 'A ridiculous amount, of course no-one's going to buy it', says the author. 'But it's still nice to see it on Internet.'
Niels himself got a free copy.
He is hoping to get his Master's in International Land and Water Management at Wageningen University this year. Will he be publishing his Master's dissertation too? 'No idea, I haven't thought about that yet.'