James L. Harner

“ Researchers without access to one of the electronic versions should consult Comprehensive Dissertation Index, a keyword index to dissertations in the Dissertation Abstracts Database. Entries are now organized by broad subject divisions, then alphabetically by keyword, and then alphabetically by author. An entry cites title, author, degree, date, institution, number of pages, source of entry, and UMI order number. ”

“ A database of doctoral dissertations and master’s theses accepted by North American and some foreign institutions since 1637. The database now cites dissertations from most United States and Canadian institutions (and, since 1988, many British ones) , but coverage in the early years is considerably less thorough, and some universities still do not submit abstracts or dissertations for reproduction. Coverage of dissertations outside North America is superficial. ”

“ Particularly vexing are the numerous classified sections that are frequently imprecise in heading, inconsistent across divisions, and organized in no discernible manner (e.g., related topics are rarely grouped together) . ”

“ Standard Search: combination keyword and pull-down menu searches of title, author, degree, classification, year, university, and any field; fields must be combined by “and” or “or” Advanced Search: command line searches of title, author, university name, university identification code, classification, year, degree, and abstract ”

“ A bibliography of theses and dissertations accepted by Canadian institutions since 1947 or microfilmed by the National Library since 1981 and, beginning with the 1980–1981 volumes, foreign theses and dissertations by Canadians or related to Canada. Beginning with 1980–1981 entries are listed in processing order in two parts: works accepted by Canadian institutions; those by Canadians or about the country accepted by foreign institutions. Entries cite author, title, degree, institution, and date. Access to the parts is provided by four indexes (which cumulate with each issue) : author and title ”

“ Three indexes: institutions; names and journal titles; subjects. Although the introduction is unduly murky, Guide to Theses and Dissertations is the essential, time-saving source for identifying both the well-known and the obscure indexes, bibliographies, and abstracts that must be searched for theses and dissertations relevant to a topic.
General Abstracts H465 ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Full Text. ProQuest. ProQuest, 2013. 23 Aug. 2013. . Updated monthly. (Title varies. The database is also available without full-text access.) ”

“ Since the supplement for 1974, the main title omits University. Z5055.A698 U5 011′.7.
A union list of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations accepted by Australian universities and held by at least one Australian university library. Works are organized alphabetically by author within extensively classified subject divisions (including, in the later supplements, folklore, language, literature, and theater) . Two indexes: authors; subject headings (the supplements have an additional one for title keywords) . ”