This web page brings together some of the major resources for finding dissertations and theses and specific information about locating them at Cornell. It is intended to be a concise step-by-step guide to searching--a best practices and training guide rolled into one. The terms theses and dissertations are often used interchangeably, but normally dissertations is used to describe only doctoral-level work.

Find out whether the thesis desired is a doctoral thesis (dissertation), a master's thesis, or an undergraduate (usually honors) thesis. Different types of theses require different search strategies.

Dissertations and theses may be available as printed looseleaf or bound manuscripts, on microfilm, or full text online. Please note that, in addition to this page, there is a dissertations help page in the Library Gateway as well: Locating Dissertations.

If you are unable to locate a dissertation or thesis, please contact the Cornell University Library reference staff for assistance. If you have additional location information about Cornell doctoral dissertations and masters or undergraduate honors theses that should be added to this guide, please contact Olin Library reference, okuref[at]cornell.edu.

Nearly all Cornell doctoral dissertations are available in print form or on microfilm in one of the Cornell University Libraries. Some dissertations are now available online as well. Copies of undergraduate honors theses are more fugitive, but some are also available at Cornell.

Recommended approach:

STEP ONE: Search ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Recent Cornell dissertations may be available full text in PDF format for immediate free download. There appears to be no reason to search Dissertation Abstracts online; these records are now in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

STEP TWO: Check the Cornell Library Catalog.

SEARCHING: The Catalog lists the dissertations available in the Cornell University Library. Note that some records do not have subject headings; for help searching for subjects, see this Library Gateway help section: strategies for browsing Cornell dissertations for topics. We also have a set of thesis catalog cards organized by department in the CRIO cabinet in B52 Olin (aka the old Rare vault) that serves as a rough subject guide. This card set covers approximately 1987 back to 1918 and is filed in chronological order within each department.

SEARCHING TIPS: Tips for searching the Cornell Library Catalog for Cornell dissertations by author and title.
Tips for browsing the Cornell Library Catalog for Cornell dissertations and browsing the shelves by Thesis call numbers.

LOCATION: The print thesis collection in Olin Library is currently shelved on Level 2 before the double oversize (++) Z's.

COVERAGE LIMITATIONS: Some dissertation information is missing from the Cornell Library Catalog:
* the newest dissertations that the library hasn't received yet or that are in the process of being bound and cataloged;
* the eCommons@Cornell versions of dissertations are not linked from the catalog record for the print version and do not have their own separate records;
* it is possible that some pre-1918 dissertations are not cataloged (under investigation).

STEP THREE: Finding the Newest and Oldest Dissertations/Theses.

The Newest Cornell Dissertations:

A first place to check for newer Cornell dissertations not yet listed in the Cornell Library Catalog is the Theses and Dissertations section of eCommons@Cornell. The Cornell University Graduate School page has links to two collections: Theses and Dissertations (OPEN) and Theses and Dissertations (CLOSED). The OPEN collection is available to the general public, including the full text. The CLOSED collection is not available outside Cornell and only the citation and abstract are available at Cornell. These papers will remain closed to online viewing for five years.

If a patron needs to see a dissertation before it is fully processed and the text is not available in the dissertation section of eCommons@Cornell, there is a procedure in place in Library technical services (LTS) for making it available. If the thesis hasn't been sent to the bindery yet, LTS staff will retrieve it from the storage location in Olin and take the boxed, unbound dissertation to the RMC (Rare and Manuscript Collections) Reading Room. The patron can view it there.

Advanced Degrees Conferred (Olin Reference Z 5055 .U5 C81 +) (formerly Candidates for Advanced Degrees) is a printed list of all the graduate degrees granted at Cornell since 1932. It includes the name of the advisor and the title of the dissertation or thesis. We receive this list 3 times per year -- August, January, and May. It is organized by the degree granted: Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Engineering; the order has varied over time. If you're trying to locate an individual title in a given year, you may need to look at all three lists -- August, January, and May.

Here is the binding and cataloging process for Cornell dissertations:

The library receives two copies of each dissertation--archival and circulating. We usually start receiving archival copies of unbound dissertations six weeks after the conferral of degrees. The circulating copies are sent off to be microfilmed and they arrive somewhat later. Then the two copies are matched and sent to bindery. We send 75 titles every two weeks. The binding turnaround time is about two weeks. Then we start cataloging them in the order they are bound, usually in alphabetical order. The archival copy goes to the Library Annex. The circulating copy goes to the stacks. Contact information for the LTS staff in charge of processing dissertations is in our staff wiki [login required: go to the Confluence wiki: Olin, Asia & Uris Public Services Information section, then Dissertations - in process or not yet in catalog].

The Oldest (pre-1923) Cornell Dissertations:

LOCATIONS:
A 359-reel microfilm set contains theses submitted from 1871-1910. The boxes are labelled "Thesis Microfilm" and are shelved at the end of the microfilm section after the Icelandic microfilm in the Microform Area on the B level of Olin. The reels are organized in chronological order from 1871-1910. Each thesis is identified by a year and a thesis number. For example the call number "Thesis Film 1880 35" refers to thesis number 35 for the year 1880. These theses have individual records in the Cornell Library Catalog and are searchable by author and title. A two-volume printed list of the titles in this microfilm set is currently in a lateral file drawer behind the Olin reference desk labelled "Dissertation indexes for review."

Film 8229 is shelved in the microfilm section of the Microform Area on the Olin B level. This is the call number of the Cornell University Dissertations Microfilm Project which consists of 59 reels containing 410 dissertations submitted from 1909 to 1923. Each thesis is identified by a reel number and a thesis number. For example the call number "Film 8229 reel 1 no.10" is the tenth thesis on reel 1 of this microfilm set. These 410 theses have individual records in the Cornell Library Catalog and are searchable by author and title.

Professional Degree in Mech. Eng. Project Papers

The full text of Papers written for the Professional Degree in Mechanical Engineering is available in eCommons@Cornell.

Masters theses at the Hotel School

The Public Services staff in Hotel School (Statler) Library maintains a list of theses completed in the Hotel School in their Hostline database. Refer search requests to them. Photocopies of theses may be ordered from Hostline for each, plus the cost of delivery. To order a thesis, please send an email to hostline@sha.cornell.edu. Please include author, title, call number, your address, and telephone number.

Masters theses at the ILR School

Susan LaCette in Catherwood, the Industrial and Labor Relations Library, has created ILR School Theses and Dissertations an online bibliography in the RefShare interface that is searchable and browseable. All of these theses and dissertations have records in the Cornell Library Catalog. However, unlike the catalog, ILR School Theses and Dissertations is easily browsed by subject.

Locating Cornell Undergraduate Theses

eCommons@Cornell has the full text of some undergraduate honors theses. Coverage begins in 2006.
At present (2007) the following colleges and schools have separately searchable sections in eCommons:
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Engineering
College of Human Ecology
School of Hotel Administration
School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Some undergraduate honors theses are listed in the Cornell Library Catalog. Using Guided Keyword, the search is honors cornell [all of these][in Keyword Anywhere] AND thesis theses [any of these][in Keyword Anywhere]. You can limit to specific unit libraries if desired by setting Collection Location limits [hold down the ctrl key to select multiple libraries]. Limiting the search above to Olin, Uris, and Kroch RMC then reduces the number and shows the following two substantial collections located in the Archives: Dept. of Government honors theses, 1991-2005; Dept. of History senior honors theses, 1978-2007.

The Fine Arts Library has two categories of undergraduate theses in print form: Bachelor of Architecture thesis (NA 39) and senior honors City and Regional Planning thesis (NA 9002). These do not circulate because there are no additional copies at the University.

Requests for Cornell dissertations or theses from patrons outside Cornell

The Purchase option: Patrons wishing to purchase a copy of a Cornell PhD thesis that is too old to be handled by UMI Dissertation Express (pre June 1954) or any Cornell masters thesis can place Special Order Copy Cost Estimate request with Olin Interlibrary Services--Lending. Patrons need to register on this ILS web site (http://olinlending.library.cornell.edu). Once they receive a user name/password/link to the request page, then they need to place a PHOTOCOPY request with a Note in the notes field stating "Special Order Copy Cost Estimate needed" or something along those lines. Refer these requests to olin-ils-lending@cornell.edu .

Requirements for Cornell Dissertations/Theses:

The Graduate School at Cornell has made their booklet, "Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Thesis: Formatting, Production, and Submission Requirements," available on their Web page, http://thesis.gradschool.cornell.edu/. A printed version is available at the Graduate School in the Thesis Advisor's Office, 125 Caldwell Hall.

STEP ONE: Search ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

According to ProQuest, coverage begins with 1637. With more than 2.4 million entries, PQD&T is the starting point for finding citations to doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350-word abstracts written by the author. Master’s theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. UMI also offers over 1.8 million titles for purchase in microfilm or paper formats. The full text of more than 930,000 are available in PDF format for immediate free download. Use interlibrary loan for the titles not available in full text online.

STEP TWO: Check the Cornell Library Catalog.

Check before the patron requests an interlibrary loan. Sometimes we have a copy of a dissertation from another university--either purchased by the library, or purchased by an individual student or faculty member and later donated to the library collection.

STEP THREE: (Not in ProQuest or the Cornell Library Catalog)

Search for Foreign Dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries:

To search for titles and verify holdings of dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries, use the CRL catalog. CRL seeks to provide comprehensive access to doctoral dissertations submitted to institutions outside the U. S. and Canada (currently more than 750,000 titles). One hundred European universities maintain exchange or deposit agreements with CRL. Russian dissertation abstracts in the social sciences are obtained on microfiche from INION. More detailed information about CRL's foreign dissertation holdings.

British dissertations:

Index to Theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by the universities of Great Britain and Ireland and the Council for National Academic Awards.
London: Aslib.

Theses on any subject submitted by the academic libraries in the UK and Ireland back to 1716. The full text of some dissertations may be purchased from the British Library.

Verifying German dissertations:

Die Deutsche Bibliothek Database.

Die Deutsche Bibliothek Database contains 6.5 million records representing the holdings of the National Library of Germany, which, following the unification of Germany in October 1990, combines the Deutsche Bucherei Leipzig and the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurtam Main (including the Deutsche Musikarchiv Berlin). The library collects and catalogs all printed and electronic publications issued in Germany, published abroad in German, translated from German-language publications, and works in any language about Germany (Germanica). The records represent monographs, periodicals, microforms, dissertations, visual materials, maps, printed and recorded music, and electronic publications issued since 1945.

Deutsche Nationalbibliographie und Bibliographie der im Ausland erschienenen deutschsprachigen Veröffentlichungen. Reihe H, Hochschulschriften.
Frankfurt am Main: Buchhändler-Vereinigung H01, Jan. 1991- .

Olin Library Z 5055 .G37 .D48; latest 5 years in Reference

Subject Heading: Dissertations, Academic--Germany--Bibliography--Periodicals.

Previous title: Deutsche Bibliographie. Hochschulschriften-Verzeichnis Deutsche Bibliographie. Hochschulschriften-Verzeichnis

Requests for non-Cornell dissertations by Cornellians:

Students and faculty wishing to obtain a copy of a dissertation or theses that is not available full text in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses can request the title on interlibrary loan using ILLiad. If the title is not available for loan, students and faculty can use purchase a copy through Olin Interlibrary Services: see details here. Questions may be directed to the Interlibrary Services staff: contact information here.

The Purchase option: It is also possible to purchase dissertations directly through UMI Dissertation Express (back to June 1954). Not all universities participate (for instance, MIT) but the ILS staff can help.

Many periodical databases in academic disciplines index dissertations in addition to articles and books: MLA Bibliography, PsycINFO, and EconLit are three well-known examples. In general, one would not expect to find dissertations not already cited in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. in these databases. However, it can be a way to locate dissertations written in a particular discipline as opposed to specific subjects.