Nursing: How to find dissertations

To conduct a general search for dissertations available in digital format from a variety of universities, start in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. Below the "Search Options" section, check the box for "Doctoral Dissertations" for "Manuscript Type" before searching for your keywords.

For dissertations not available online in full-text, but indexed in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, there are a couple of options for obtaining a copy:

• For qualified NSU doctoral students only, the Alvin Sherman Library's Document Delivery Department will purchase up to two dissertations at no cost to the student. Orders for one or both free dissertations MUST be placed through Document Delivery, not the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. To proceed, log into the ILLIAD system and indicate in the form that you are requesting your free dissertation(s).
   
• Distance students and non-NSU students may use interlibrary loan (ILL) services through their local library. Local NSU students may use the NSU Interlibrary Loan Department. Local NSU students, please use the ILLIAD system and indicate that you are requesting a loan. Please note that less than half of all dissertations can be obtained through the interlibrary loan (ILL) system, and can take many months to obtain.
   
• NSU Alumni may purchase a print copy of their dissertation which is indexed in Proquest dissertation databases.

In addition to ProQuest's Dissertations and Theses Full Text subscription database, there are numerous public Web sites that provide varying amounts of information on dissertations and theses worldwide. The Web site may provide citations only, or citations and abstracts. Some include some full text. Most provide information on completed dissertations though some provide information on dissertations that are "in progress."

Abes: Agence Bibliographique de l'Enseignement Superieur
Provides citations to French dissertations.

Australian Digital Theses Program
Provides citations and full-text for a few thousand theses and dissertations published in Australia.

The British Library
Provides citations of theses from British universities (most doctoral theses from the early 1970s onward), from the United States (475,000 doctoral theses), and from Canada (several hundred doctoral theses from 1980 forward).

Center for Research Libraries
http://www.crl.edu
Twenty thousand doctoral dissertations from outside of the United States and Canada are searchable from this site. Items can be ordered through ILL by students, faculty, and staff.

Cybertheses
http://www.cybertheses.org/
Provides citations of French dissertations from 1901 to the present.

Digital Library and Archives
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses
Provides citations and abstracts of over 6,700 theses and dissertations. Free full-text access is provided for over 4,500 of these items.

Directory of Dissertations in Progress
Citations of dissertations "in progress" in the area of history from the U.S. and Canada.

Dissertation.com
http://www.dissertation.com
Includes only a few hundred dissertations and theses, but provides free, full-text access to the first twenty-five pages of each item.

Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology
http://www.music.indiana.edu/ddm
Provides citations for dissertations in musicology from approximately 1950 to the present. International in scope.

NDLTD - Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations http://www.ndltd.org
Provides citations from thousands of digital dissertations and theses that are in PDF format. Many are freely available in full-text and can be viewed online.

Theses Canada Portal
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/thesescanada/index-e.html
Provides access to bibliographic citations for all the theses in the National Library of Canada Theses Collection. Provides full-text for theses published between January 1, 1998 to August 31, 2002.

TREN: Theological Research Exchange Network
http://www.tren.com
Provides citations to 6,800 theological theses/dissertations and conference papers. Items can then be purchased.