ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Text

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Text
formerly known as Digital Dissertations

Introduction

Dissertations and Theses Full Text (formerly called Digital Dissertations) provides information on doctoral dissertations and master's thesis from 1861 to present. It provides:

citations for dissertations since 1861
abstracts for dissertations since 1980
abstracts for master's theses since 1988
full text for over 100,000 dissertations available in digital (PDF) format since 1997.

Dissertations from over 1,000 North American graduate schools & European universities are included.
The database is provided by the ProQuest company as seen here.

Dissertations and Theses Full Text database via ProQuest.

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Databases page of the Electronic Resources section of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library website.

For more on how to access databases visit http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/electroniclibrary/

Searching

When you open Dissertations and Theses Full Text the screen defaults to the Advanced Search mode.

To construct an advanced search in Dissertations and Theses Full Text:

Type your search term(s) in the entry boxe(s)
Select the Search button.

Type in term(s) and then search.

Search Results

Search results will vary. If you get:

No records matched your search, then check your spelling or the fields you searched in.
Too many, then go back and limit your search. Sometimes a search needs to be modified with: additional search words, searching only a specific field, adding date limitations, or type of materials.
Too few, then go back and expand your search. Consider synonyms for your search words or concepts. Try to use professional language or terminology.
Irrelevant results, then try new search terms. Consider synonyms or related concepts. Identify and search using descriptors. Try a different database.

Results lists

A list of search results matching your search terms will be displayed. The Search Results shows

citations for items that matched your search
availability of abstract (summary)
availability of 24 page preview
availability of full-text

Dissertations and Theses Full Text database - sample search results.

Records

Dissertations are lengthy, and it is strongly recommended that students read the 24 page preview before retrieving the PDF version.

To preview a disseration select the 24 Page Preview.

To open full text, when available

click Page Image-PDF
the dissertation will open in Adobe Reader.

Sample of a dissertation from Dissertations and Theses Full Text Database.

Use this chart for additional help in locating dissertations.

If Dissertations and Theses Full Text indicates…

Then…

Page Image-PDF

PDF download available. Click to open in Adobe Reader.

No full text available in Dissertations and Theses Full Text database?

Purchase from UMI–prices begin at $34 USD.

NSU Doctoral students only: NSU will purchase up to two dissertations for qualified doctoral candidates at no cost to the student.

dissertations must be available for purchase from UMI

the two free dissertations MUST be requested through NSU Document Delivery

additional dissertations or non-doctoral users must pay for the dissertations and can order them directly from UMI.

Not available from UMI and an NSU dissertation

A paper or microfiche copy may be available in the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center.

Local users will need to use the dissertation in the Sherman Library. NSU doctoral distance students may request the dissertation be sent to them–if the dissertation is in microfiche format, then a microfiche copy will be sent.

Not available from UMI and a Non-NSU dissertation

Try interlibrary loan or visit the issuing institution to view the dissertation in-person–this may be the only option to view obscure materials.

Local NSU users should use NSU interlibrary loan to try and obtain the dissertation. Distance NSU students should use interlibrary loan through their local library to try and obtain the dissertation.

Note: Less than half of all dissertations can be obtained through the interlibrary loan (ILL) system, and it may take many months to obtain it since there is often only one copy of the dissertation available for interlibrary loan.

Managing Search Results

Databases typically allow you to manage your search results by

marking or tagging records to select only the records that you want from your search results from later printing, emailing and/or saving
printing the search results list and/or specific records
emailing the search results list and/or specific records to your email address
saving the search results list and/or specific records–some databases may allow you to save your file for export into commercial bibliographic citation manager software, such as EndNote or ProCite

Not all search management features are available in all databases.

Marking

The “mark” feature allows you to select records from within your search results. By marking items, you can print, email or save a list of citations at one time.

To mark a record:

put a check mark in the box to left of the item desired.

To view your list of marked records

click on the My Research tab at the top of the screen.

You may then email, print or download (save) the citation information for the items you have selected. Full-text will not be included for marked items–even if the full-text is available.

Printing

Printing from the marked list only prints a copy of the citations (a bibliography). To print a dissertation open the PDF file and use the print command button in the Acrobat Reader Toolbar.

Search results in Dissertations and Theses Full Text.

Emailing

To email a record from the marked list select Email marked documents and then follow the directions as seen in the example below:

Emailing documents from Dissertations and Theses Full Text via ProQuest.

Saving

To save or download a record from the marked list select export citations. Next the screen below will appear, select the format for exporting the documents, and follow the screen commmands.

Saving citations in Dissertations and Theses Full Text via ProQuest.

Search Tips

Use advanced search features to modify a search to obtain more successful search results. You can combine advanced search features to modify and improve your search. Advanced search features often include:

phrase or proximity searching
field searching
date
document and/or publication type
Boolean operators
plurals and truncation

One useful tip when searching any electronic database is to leave out articles, prepositions, and very abstract or general terms–they confuse the database's search engine.

For example, if the paper is on "The Impact of Mainstreaming Students in Math Classes,” use the most precise terms like mainstreaming and mathematics and skip impact, the, of, and in.

Phrase or proximity searching

There are two ways to search for a phrase

type the words in the same search box–quotation marks are not necessary
- higher education
- curriculum development

use pre/1 to search for two words as a phrase
- higher pre/1 education
- curriculum pre/1 development

Field searching

To limit your search to a specific field in the record

use the pull-down menu–to the right of the search box
scroll to the field/category to limit your search to
click on the field’s name

Limiting to NSU Dissertations

A field search can be used to specify a specific school code in their search

click on the pull-down arrow–to the right of the box that says “Keyword”
scroll to the School name/Code field
click on School name/Code
type one or more of the school codes for NSU–it is recommended that you use all three codes in your search and type 1191 or 0166 or 0829
- for recent NSU dissertations, use school code 1191
- for older Nova University dissertations, use school code 0166
- for older School of Psychology dissertations, use school code 0829
proceed with the rest of your search

Date

To limit a search to specific years

go to the date section
select a year from the drop down menu box

Boolean operators

The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, can be used to modify a search

use the pull-down arrow–to the left of the entry boxes
select the desired Boolean operator

Use AND to narrow a search. AND looks for both terms in the same record.
leadership and vision; mainstreaming and science

Use OR to broaden a search. OR looks for either term in the same record.
mainstreaming or inclusion; elementary education or secondary education

Use NOT to eliminate records with a certain term.
Saturn not car; Venus not planet

Plurals

Use the following to locate plural forms and truncate search terms:

OR	Plural forms. school OR schools retrieves both forms of the word
?	Any number of characters at the end of a word. leader? retrieves leader, leaders, leadership