Borrowing or Purchasing Dissertations and Theses
Different institutions have different policies regarding
loans and sales of their master's and doctoral theses. Commonly,
universities will supply interlibrary loans of those which are not
deposited with ProQuest Dissertations &
Theses (formerly UMI/ProQuest). Many libraries will lend any
thesis when a second copy is held; some will only sell copies; a
very few will neither lend nor copy. The Interlibrary Loan Service
at Vanderbilt has developed reciprocal lending agreements with many
institutions, and successfully borrows most dissertations requested.
We rarely have a choice of which format the lending library supplies.
You may request to borrow any
thesis, but if you want to own a copy,
you can probably order directly from one of the following sources.
(Log in to your ILL account and use the
"Thesis/Dissertation" form to ask us to borrow for you,
or if you don't see a direct source for purchasing here.)
ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses, the online
equivalent of Dissertation Abstracts International, indexes
doctoral dissertations and some master's theses, including abstracts.
Vanderbilt subscribes to the full text database, and Vanderbilt users
may download any titles for which PDF full text is available;
others can be requested through interlibrary loan. Most of the titles listed
are also available for purchase in a variety of formats (including bound
and unbound paper, microfilm, and microfiche) and prices.
Ordering from UMI ProQuest:
You can purchase online as you search ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,
by following the instructions which ProQuest provides. Or,
you can refer to ProQuest Information and Learning:
Ordering Dissertations and Theses for current pricing and
order information.
The MIT Libraries provide copies of MIT theses
(including dissertations) through Document Services. This page
gives information and links for ordering.
The Theologicial Research Exchange Network
(TREN) sells dissertations and theses of a number of theological
schools, along with selected conference publications of several
academic societies. Online searching and ordering is available
at this site.
Foreign Theses and Dissertations
There is no single source for purchasing foreign
dissertations, but they usually can be borrowed through ILL instead.
The Center for Research
Libraries (CRL) collects dissertations at the doctoral level
and higher from countries other than the U.S. and Canada. CRL
will attempt to acquire foreign dissertations which it doesn't
already own, for interlibrary loan at no charge to you.
Canadian master's and doctoral theses usually can
be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Beginning in 1990, most
are also available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
(these are listed with an order number in Dissertation Abstracts).
If you need to purchase a thesis for which you see
no direct source here, we will be happy to try to get a copy through
interlibrary loan. Be sure to specifically request purchase
in your "comments" on the interlibrary loan
form. You will be responsible for the cost of the copy, so you
may want to indicate the maximum amount you would be willing to
pay. Prepayment may be required, depending on the policy of the
supplying library.
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Service ] [ About Interlibrary Loan Service ]
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