Inst of Higher Education: Fall Webinar: Less Searching and More Finding: Finding and Writing Dissertations

Dissertations in GIL

The UGA Libraries own all the dissertations done here. Since 1999 all dissertations are required to be in electronic format. You can search for dissertations in GIL by using the keyword search. Dissertations written in or since 1999 will be available in full-text. Start with the Books & More tab on the Libraries' Homepage

To search in GIL-FIND

• Use the Advanced Search
• type dissertation in the search box, using All Fields
• join boxes with AND (default)
• type in the name of the major professor using All Fields
•    Or use the  author, selecting Author from the drop-down menu
•    Or the title of the dissertation (Title)
• for dissertations written in or since 1999, you also have the option of searching in the abstract, so you may use terms that are likely to be found there. Use quotation marks to keep words together as a phrase. Use the All Fields option to do this type of search.

For dissertations written before 1999

• dissertations will ONLY be in print
• dissertation records DO NOT have an abstract.
• your choice of search terms are limited by not having an abstract. Consider looking for the name of the major professor or the author. Department names may also be used, but keep in mind that departments change name over time. Contact your department for a history of names if you need older materials
• Some materials may be stored at the Repository. Use the links in GIL Classic & GIL-FIND to have repository items retrieved. Repository materials may be delivered to the Curriculum Materials Library.

DO NOT PAY FOR DISSERTATIONS UNTIL YOU HAVE TALKED WITH INTERLIBRARY LOAN. ILL CAN USUALLY BORROW THEM FOR FREE.
From the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses entry in the GALILEO list:--- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses covers dissertations accepted at accredited U.S. institutions since 1861. Approximately 47,000 new dissertations and 12,000 new theses are added to the database each year. It selectively covers masters theses, Canadian dissertations, British, and other international dissertations. Abstracts are included for dissertations beginning July 1980 and for masters theses beginning spring 1988. For dissertations done in 1997 and later, full text is PDF form of some titles is available.

• You can search
  • by author (keep it simple: last name, first name unless it's a fairly common combination: John Smith)
  • by title (select Document Title-TI from the "in" drop-box)
    • You can also use the "AB--Abstract Option as the field you wish to search. This is especially helpful when searching for a topic.
  •  by university where the dissertation was completed. Use the "University/institution" option in the drop-box and then select the desired institution from the list.

Interlibrary Loan can usually borrow the dissertation in which you're interested. For FREE. So, unless you have a burning desire to own someone else's dissertation, don't add it to "your cart", but request to borrow it with the help of Interlibrary Loan. From the ILL page click on the link for the request form (right side of the page). Please provide our colleagues with as much information as possible.

• You can find details about the dissertation by clicking on the "citation/abstract" link.
• You may include the dissertation/theses number and/or the ProQuest Document ID in your Interlibrary Loan Request.