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Dissertations and theses

Dissertations from most universities are indexed in Dissertations and Theses from ProQuest.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to know in advance whether it will be possible to borrow a particular thesis or dissertation from a particular university through interlibrary loan. Most universities will lend a paper copy of a masters thesis or Ph.D. dissertation if a paper copy is available. However, some universities will not lend paper copies at all. Even those universities that will lend paper copies may not have paper copies after a particular date, and only an electronic copy may exist. Whether you will be able to access that electronic copy varies according to the policies of the individual university. Some electronic copies may be available through the Web, others may not.

Dissertation/Thesis nonlenders

The institutions listed below have published policies that exclude lending their paper copies of either theses and/ or dissertations.

University/College Name	Location	Loan Ph.D.?	Loan MS?	OCLC Symbol
Bucknell University	Lewisburg, PA	N/A	No	PBU
Eastern Virginia Medical School	Norfolk,VA	No	No	VNN
Fielding Graduate University (has no library)	Santa Barbara, CA	No	No
Georgetown University	Washington, DC	No	No	DGU
Johns Hopkins University (will lend Ph. D. written before 1967)	Baltimore, MD	No	No	JHE
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge, MA	No	No	MYG
Princeton University	Princeton, NJ	Yes	No	PUL
Saint Louis University	Saint Louis, MO	No	No	XII
Stanford University	Stanford, CA	No for titles after 1953.	Yes	STF
University of California, Davis	Davis, CA	No, but will provide microfiche copy of dissertations issued between 1978 and mid-2003.	No, but will provide microfiche copy of theses issued between 1978 and mid-2003.	CUV
University of New Hampshire	Durham, NH	No	Yes	NHM
University of Wisconsin	Madison, WI	Yes	Will photocopy but not lend.	GZM
Walden University (has no library)	Minneapolis, MI	Send ALA request to waldenlb@waldenu.edu Will send on non-returnable CD.	Send ALA request to waldenlb@waldenu.edu Will send on non-returnable CD.

Other sources

When a library is unwilling or unable to lend a dissertation or thesis through interlibrary loan, you can try to obtain a copy through a limited number of other sources.

Purchase

If the dissertation you want is not available through interlibrary loan, then it may be possible for you to purchase a copy from UMI Dissertation Publishing.
If the dissertation was published at a university outside of the U.S. or Canada, the Center for Research Libraries will attempt to purchase a copy. Submit the request through ILLiad with a note that you would like CRL to purchase the dissertation. ILL staff will follow up on your request.
Some universities, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, do not make their dissertations available through ProQuest. In these cases, you may be able to purchase a photocopy directly through the photocopy office at that particular university.

Web sources

Many universities are posting recent dissertations and theses on the Web. Thus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a growing selection of MIT dissertations and theses dating back to the mid-1800s that was first made available on the Web in summer 1999. They can be previewed online without charge in a non-printable PDF format. A printable PDF or paper copy can be purchased through MIT's web site.

In contrast, Virginia Tech's ETD collection provides fully downloadable copies without charge for the majority of Virginia Tech dissertations and theses completed from 1997 to the present. However, 35% of the Virginia Tech theses and dissertations are restricted to use only on the Virginia Tech network. Similar restrictions may apply to electronic dissertations and theses at other universities.

In Canada, access to dissertations and theses is centralized through the Theses Canada Portal. Full text electronic versions of more than 220,000 Canadian theses and dissertations submitted to the program from 1998 through 2002 are available in PDF format.

See our guide to finding theses and dissertations for more details.

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