http://chronicle.com/article/Scholarly-Group-Seeks-Up-to/140515/
I've read a lot of scholarly literature, but I've never read a non-digital dissertation. I have, however, read a few books that were adaptations of dissertations. The American Historical Association, concerned that openly accessible digital dissertations will cut into the demand for such books (and thus the profit from them), has asked for an embargo on electronic theses and dissertations for a period of 6 years. They claim that this will help scholars who need the esteem (and often the money) from a book deal, but as Kevin Smith points out at http://blogs.library.duke.edu/scholcomm/2013/07/24/etds-publishing-policy-based-on-fear/, there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that electronic theses and dissertations are actually affecting the book market.
I've read a lot of scholarly literature, but I've never read a non-digital dissertation. I have, however, read a few books that were adaptations of dissertations. The American Historical Association, concerned that openly accessible digital dissertations will cut into the demand for such books (and thus the profit from them), has asked for an embargo on electronic theses and dissertations for a period of 6 years. They claim that this will help scholars who need the esteem (and often the money) from a book deal, but as Kevin Smith points out at http://blogs.library.duke.edu/scholcomm/2013/07/24/etds-publishing-policy-based-on-fear/, there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that electronic theses and dissertations are actually affecting the book market.