how to use
How to Use Dissertations and Theses (Proquest)
The Library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database, which allows you online access to citations and abstracts for every title in the database. It contains over 2 million entries, ranging from the first U.S. dissertation accepted in 1861 to those accepted just this semester. Most titles published since 1997 are available full text in PDF digital format. To access ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, go to the Library home page and choose the Databases tab. Dissertations and Theses is located on this alphabetical list.
The default search page is Advanced Search.
Advanced Searching:
The Advanced search is useful for combining keyword searching on various fields. The Advanced Search screen can be used to search by author, words in the abstract, words in document title, or degree. You may limit by date or date range, or to full text only or doctoral dissertations only or, if you want to view only Master's Level theses, you can enter "m.a. or m.e." and select Degree from the drop down box.
Finding a known thesis or dissertation: When you already know the title and/or author of a thesis or dissertation, you can search for the document by entering the title in the search box and choosing Document title for the search field (and/or entering the author's name and choosing Author in the search field). Example:
Combined Search: Proquest Dissertations and Theses will insert an automatic 'AND' between search terms. Remember: For synonyms, you will want to use an 'OR' between terms. To combine different concepts, AND should be used.
The following example illustrates keyword searching for masters level thesis focused on "high stakes testing".
Once you hit the Search button, your results list will display a brief citation record. From this page, you can mark citation records, view a complete record, view the Abstract, view a 24 Page Preview or download the entire document in PDF (Page Image - PDF). To mark citations, click on the box in the citation, Mark this article. Once you have marked several citations, click on Marked List at the top of the search page. This will display a list of all of the marked citations. You can then print or email this list (See Print/Email below). By clicking on any of the hyperlinked options in the citation, you will retrieve the document's Abstract, 24 Page Preview or the entire document in PDF (Page Image - PDF). The following is an example of a brief citation record:
To View a Complete Thesis/Dissertation Record: When you find a thesis or dissertation that interests you, you can view a more complete citation record by clicking on the title. The complete document record will display and includes the author's name(s), advisor's name, and the subject terms under which the document has been catalogued. All of these terms act as "hot links". In other words you may see other theses or dissertations accepted by the same advisor simply by clicking on the advisor's name. The same goes for subject terms. A short abstract is included on this record. The following is an example of a complete citation record.
Finding similar articles: The quickest way to find similar documents is to click on "Show Options for finding similar documents." You will then be able to select and combine subject terms, etc. from the original document and execute a search for those documents containing the selected terms.
Printing/E-mailing
To print a thesis or dissertation, simply click on the Page Image – PDF link. Use the Adobe print icon to print the entire document or your browser print option to print a selection of pages from the document. You may prefer to save a copy of the document on your computer by using the browser Save As function. Emailing PDF is not currently available.
You may print or email individual complete records or abstracts by selecting from the following available choices:
You may print or email your Marked List by selecting from the following available choices:
If you have any questions please call the reference desk during reference hours at (925) 631- 4624 or Margaret Brown-Salazar, Education Librarian at (925) 631-4188.
