BIBLIOGRAPHIC ACCESS TO DISSERTATIONS
By M. Patrick Graham
Copyright 1997
(Library Director/Pitts Theology Library/
Emory University/Atlanta, GA)
(Editor's Note: This article was compiled in the early 1990s and therefore does not necessarily reflect the current state of some of the publications listed below.) Introduction
Doctoral dissertations constitute one of the researcher's most valuable tools: the older ones are invaluable for the reconstruction of the history of research, while the more recent ones show the latest trends in scholarship, reveal the status of the discipline, and provide excellent bibliographies. Access to these works, however, is hindered by three difficulties:
(1) since the doctoral thesis is by nature an unpublished work, one cannot rely on publishers' catalogs or certain other bibliographical tools to alert one to works of interest;
(2) the bibliographic services that attempt to cover such works are often from one to three years behind thesis completion dates; and
(3) restrictions are sometimes placed on the use of dissertations (e.g., prohibition of copying or lending). Bibliographic Access Each bibliographic tool that gives one access to current doctoral dissertations has its own unique mixture of advantages and disadvantages. In the discussion that follows, a number of these tools are evaluated. American Doctoral Dissertations ADD is an annual publication by University Microfilms International (UMI) that covers American and Canadian institutions, whether they belong to the Dissertation Abstracts program or not. Consequently, while no abstracts are included (only author, title, degree, and date are given), the coverage in North America is greater than in Dissertation Abstracts. The entries are arranged alphabetically by author within school within subject for 1933-1971. Comprehensive Dissertation Index CDI attempts to index all U.S. and some foreign dissertations between 1861 and 1972. The works are grouped by general subject (e.g. Philosophy and Religion in vv. 33-37) and then indexed by author and keyword. Each entry includes basic bibliographical information but no abstract.
Dissertation Abstracts International The most prominent instrument in America for bibliographic access to doctoral theses is DAI, which is published by UMI. Sections A (The Humanities and Social Sciences) and B (The Sciences and Engineering) are published monthly and include bibliographic information and abstracts for dissertations completed in North America from 1861 to the present at institutions that participate in the program. Section C (Worldwide) includes the same information about dissertations completed outside North America and is published quarterly. Abstracts of theses are arranged by topic within each section (e.g., works on the book of Revelation would probably be found under the "Theology" listing of "Philosophy, Religion and Theology," although the precise nature of the thesis could cause it to be set elsewhere). Another UMI publication, Masters Abstracts, provides access to masters theses. UMI offers all these theses for sale in microform or softbound copy. DAI is indexed by author, title, and subject and may be searched in its hardbound copies, on CD-ROM disks,or by on-line computer searching through BRS or DIALOG. Check with your local public, university, or seminary library for access to this very useful tool.
Elenchus of Biblica Elenchus of Biblica is a bibliography of literature about the Bible and related topics that covers doctoral dissertations, as well as periodical and monographic literature (1920-). While it is the most extensive bibliography for biblical studies, it is usually several years behind in its coverage of literature. Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses Since 1923, ETL has published an annual bibliography entitled "Elenchus bibliographicus," which includes citations of dissertations. Its coverage of topics is broader than Elenchus of Biblica (e.g., the former includes canon law, ethics, and theology), and its publication is more current. Entries are arranged by subject, and there are numerous cross references. Religious Studies Review RSR regularly includes references to dissertations in its second ("Recent Dissertations in Religion") and third ("Dissertations in Progress") numbers (1975-). These are listed alphabetically by author under subject. Research in Ministry RIM is published by the American Theological Library Association and lists D.Min. theses from reporting Association of Theological Schools members (1981-). Theses are listed by title within subject, and there is an author index with thesis abstracts. These works are accessible electronically as "Religion Indexes" on the ATLA CD-ROM. Some of these theses were completed at institutions that submit dissertations to UMI and so may be found in Dissertation Abstracts, too. Revue théologique de Louvain RTL is a quarterly journal that has included a section entitled "Index international des dissertations doctorales en théologie et en droit canonique" each year since 1978. The dissertations are listed alphabetically by author within broad subject category (e.g., "Nouveau Testament, christianisme primitif" constitutes a single category). Citations include author, title, educational institution, degree, date of completion, thesis director, and reference to abstract if available.
3. There are also a number of countries that publish annual lists of dissertations completed at educational institutions within their borders. Two of these are especially important, since most of their schools have not participated in the UMI program: Jahresverzeichnis der Hochschulschriften (Germany) Inventaire des thèses de doctorat soutenues devant les universités françaises (France). Theses are listed by educational institution and indexed by subject. For South African academic theses, there is South African Theological Bibliography, which also indexes periodical literature. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S.S.R. also produce national bibliographies of dissertations. 4. Dissertations may also be found by searching the RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) or OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) databases. 5. The following bibliographies of dissertations in religion are limited more narrowly by date or subject than the titles that have been listed so far and do not represent on-going bibliographic projects:
Search Strategies * For dissertations in progress, consult recent issues of RSR or other journals that list such works (e.g., ZAW). * For abstracts of dissertations, search DAI. * For bibliographic citations of dissertations alone (no abstracts) with broad international coverage, consult DAI first, then go through each volume of RTL. This should provide fairly good coverage for the 20th century. If more time is available and comprehensiveness is required, then the other tools should be used. * For a subject-specific bibliography, search EUCLID or the card file with the correct subject heading and then "bibliography" (e.g., greece, religion, bibliography). By M. Patrick Graham
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