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- Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!pagesat!spssig.spss.com!uchinews!quads!ogil
- From: ogil@quads.uchicago.edu (Brian W. Ogilvie)
- Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
- Subject: Dissertation Abstracts OnDisc (was: Re: Request: History books)
- Message-ID: <1993Jan2.031909.379@midway.uchicago.edu>
- Date: 2 Jan 93 03:19:09 GMT
- References: <1h7ch8INNdhi@transfer.stratus.com> <15204.2b3702cb@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> <11595@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>
- Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
- Reply-To: ogil@midway.uchicago.edu
- Organization: Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine
- Lines: 29
-
- In article <11595@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> nall@ibm12.scri.fsu.edu (John Nall) wrote:
- >Now, what we *really* need is some sort of national database which would
- >allow us to have on-line access to all the dust-covered PhD dissertations.
- >Undoubtedly many obscure items like this have been painstakingly researched
- >by someone seeking their sheepskin in history, or social work, or something
- >else relevant, if we just know how to search for them :-)
-
- University Microfilms International publishes Dissertation Abstracts
- International, an annual guide to US and some foreign dissertations,
- which is now available on CD-ROM. I don't recall exactly how far back
- the CD-ROM issues go, but I think it's as far as the early decades of
- this century (a retrospective conversion, obviously :-). If UMI has a
- copy of the dissertation on file (many Ph.D. programs require that the
- dissertation be microfilmed and deposited with UMI), one may order a
- photocopy for a reasonable fee (the last one I ordered cost $25).
-
- The CD-ROMs themselves may be expensive, but a good research library
- should have them (if not, the reference department should be told to
- order them).
-
- The Center for Research Libraries in Chicago maintains a large
- collection of foreign dissertations, which may be available through
- interlibrary loan. Since foreign dissertations don't usually wind up
- at UMI, the CRL might be a good resource for someone really keen on
- tracking down an obscure European dissertation. I've never used their
- collection, so this is just hearsay.
- --
- Brian W. Ogilvie DISCLAIMER: You think I have time to
- b-ogilvie@uchicago.edu think about everything I post?
-