Slavic and East European Library

How Do I Find...?

• A specific book
• A specific article
• A specific electronic journal
• A specific article database
• Materials on reserve for a course
• Any books on a particular subject
• Any articles on a particular subject
• Books not available at UIUC
• Articles not available at UIUC
• Movies/Videos

Items in particular locations

• ...in Main Stacks
• ...in a departmental library on campus
• ...at Oak Street
• ...in an off-campus library

Finding Dissertations

• Dissertations written at UIUC
• Dissertations written at other universities
• Keeping track of dissertations in your field with RSS feeds

Dissertations written at UIUC

UIUC Online Catalog: The UIUC library should have at least one copy of all dissertations deposited at UIUC. A non-circulating archival copy is held in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, but a circulating copy can often be located in other libraries. To begin searching for dissertations, use the Advanced Search in our online catalog to search by author, title, subject or department. Here is an example of a subject search for psychology dissertations written in 2003:

1. Use the Advanced Search in the online catalog.
2. Type Theses in the first search box and Psychology in the second.
3. In the "Search by:" dropdown menu at the right, select Subject Words. If you want to limit by a certain year, type the year in the third search box and select Subject Words in the dropdown menu.
4. Click on the Search button.

Following the above directions, the search screen should look like this:

Digital Dissertations: Digital Dissertations is a database that contains dissertation citations back to 1861, abstracts back to 1980, and the full text of many dissertations from 1997 to present. Almost all dissertations written at UIUC from 1997 forward are available as a free full-text download in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. Here is an example of a subject search for education dissertations written at UIUC between 2000 and 2004:

1. In the first search box, type Education and select Subject (SU) from the dropdown menu at the right.
2. In the second search box, type University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and select School (SC) from the dropdown menu at the right. (Note: The full name of the school needs to be typed out, so "University of Illinois" or "UIUC" will not work.)
3. To limit by year, type in the years 2000 to 2004 in the Degree Date from boxes.
4. Click the Search button.

Following the above directions, the search screen should look like this:

After performing your search and locating a dissertation of interest, you'll see a Free Download button at the left of the dissertation record if a full-text download is available, as seen below. If you click that button, you will be prompted for your email address and a link to the dissertation will be emailed to you shortly thereafter.

If the full text is not available for download, a print copy of the dissertation should be available in the UIUC library--just do a search in the online catalog for the dissertation title to determine its location.

Abstracts for pre-1980 dissertations are available in Dissertation Abstracts, the print version of Digital Dissertations. You can view it in the Reference Library on the first northwest index table (call number: 013 M583).

If you're having trouble finding what you need, please Ask A Librarian for additional assistance.

Dissertations written at other universities

Dissertations Available at the UIUC Library

• UIUC / I-Share catalogs: While the majority of dissertations available at the UIUC Library are those completed at the University of Illinois, the library does acquire some dissertations completed at other institutions. Search the UIUC Online Catalog by author or title to see if we have a copy. If we do not have a copy, check the I-Share catalog. I-Share is a catalog comprising 65 academic libraries in Illinois. If there is a circulating copy available in I-Share, you can borrow it by hitting the Request button at the top of the screen. (More info on I-Share requests)
• Special library collections: If you still haven't found what you need, some libraries on campus do have special collections of dissertations. These collections do not circulate, but for help locating and using them, please visit the below libraries:
  • The Applied Life Studies Library has a large collection of uncataloged dissertations on microfiche distributed by the International Institute for Sport and Human Performance at the University of Oregon. The collection includes dissertations in the following subject areas: health, physical education, recreation, exercise and sport sciences.
  • The Business and Economics Library has a small collection of uncataloged dissertations on microfiche from major business schools in the United States from the years 1981-1986.
  • The Library and Information Science Library has a collection of uncataloged theses and dissertations on microfiche from British, Canadian and U.S. universities in the area of library science dating back to the late 1970s.

Dissertations outside UIUC

• Digital Dissertations: If no copy is found at UIUC, use Digital Dissertations to obtain a citation for the dissertation. Most American and Canadian universities are represented in Digital Dissertations, as well as selected British and European universities. Dissertations completed at many major U.S. universities during the past 10 years are available as free full-text downloads. For instructions on how to search and download items from Digital Dissertations, click here. If the full text of a dissertation is not available through this database, you can fill out a standard interlibrary loan request.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations: Networked Digital Library Theses and Dissertations is a collection of over 200,000 theses and dissertations from around the world. Many items, including those dating back to the early 1900s, are available in full text for free. For those not available in full text, fill out a standard interlibrary loan request.
• Theses Canada Portal: Theses Canada Portal is the central access point for Canadian theses. At this site, you can search AMICUS, Canada's national online catalogue, for records of all theses in the National Library of Canada's theses collection, which was established in 1965. You can also access and search for free the full text electronic versions of Canadian theses and dissertations that were published from the beginning of 1998 to August 31, 2002. To request a Canadian thesis not available online in full text, fill out a standard interlibrary loan request.
• Center for Research Libraries' Foreign Doctoral Dissertation Database: Try here when looking for a dissertation outside of the United States and Canada. This database includes 20,000 cataloged foreign doctoral dissertations. New records are no longer being added to this database, so if you're not finding what you need here, please check the CRL catalog to view or search current foreign dissertations. Because UIUC is a member of CRL, loans to the UIUC community are provided free of charge - just fill out a standard interlibrary loan request and put "Item held by CRL" in the notes field.

To Borrow a Dissertation

Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Office: If a dissertation is not available in any of the above locations, the Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Office can help you acquire a copy. Requests can be made online or in-person at the Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Office, 104A Main Library. If they cannot find a circulating copy, they will e-mail you and give you the option of ordering through Dissertation Express, a fee-based service that obtains dissertations in 4-5 business days. The library pays for the dissertation, and retains it after you are finished with it. You, in turn, pay the $15 Dissertation Express shipping fee. For more information about this service, see the Interlibrary Loan Office's Dissertation Express FAQ entry.

Keeping track of dissertations in your field with RSS feeds

The Digital Dissertations database includes over 2 million items, with thousands of titles added each year. ProQuest, the vendor for Digital Dissertations, offers an RSS feed that can help you keep up to date on new theses and dissertations in your field. Find out more at the ProQuest RSS Feeds site.

Still have questions about Dissertations?

Ask a Librarian! http://www.library.uiuc.edu/askus/

(Note: This document is designed to help users at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. If you are not affiliated with UIUC and are interested in borrowing a dissertation granted by this university, first check the UIUC Online Catalog, using the instructions above, to verify that there is a circulating copy, and then consult the interlibrary loan office of your own library. If there is no circulating copy, you may be need to purchase a copy from Dissertation Express in digital, paper or microfilm form. For more information contact the Reference Desk at (217)333-2290, or by email, reflib@uiuc.edu.)