Dissertations Abstracts
Encyclopedia
Dissertation Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts International(DAI) or the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
(PQDT) database is a bibliography
of American (and international) dissertations published by University Microfilms International
(UMI) / ProQuest
, Ann Arbor, since 1938. UMI has had an agitated life and the bibliographical data have often shifted owner and name, and therefore appears under different labels. It covers doctoral dissertations accepted at an accredited American institution since 1861. Selected Masters theses have been included since 1962; since 1988, the database includes citations for dissertations from 50 British universities that are available at The British Document Supply Centre. Besides it covers a limited number of dissertations from the rest of the world.
The print version is published monthly and cumulated annually an it is available both in softcover and on microfiche. It is divided in three sections:
Company. December 2006, the Cambridge Information Group
(CIG) bought the unit of ProQuest called ProQuest Information and Learning (which included UMI).
Former titles and print titles: From 1969: Dissertations Abstract International; from 1951: Dissertations Abstracts; from Microfilm Abstracts (an annual catalog of the dissertations available for sale from UMI), American Doctoral Dissertations (ADD), (until 1964): Index to American Doctoral Dissertations, (until 1956): Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities. Masters Abstracts International (MAI).
There are different versions in print and online. The online version is Dissertation Abstracts Online while the print bibliography is termed Dissertation Abstracts International. Material except the abstracts themselves were issued also on CD-ROM under the title: Dissertation abstracts ondisc.
Proquest Dissertations and Theses
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses is an online database that indexes, abstracts, and provides full-text access to dissertations and theses. The database includes over 2.4 million records and covers 1637 to the present. It is produced by ProQuest and was formerly known as ProQuest Digital...
(PQDT) database is a bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
of American (and international) dissertations published by University Microfilms International
University Microfilms International
University Microfilms International or UMI, was founded in the 1930s by Eugene Power in Ann Arbor. By June 1938, Power worked in two rented rooms from a downtown Ann Arbor funeral parlor, specializing in microphotography to preserve library collections...
(UMI) / ProQuest
ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based electronic publisher and microfilm publisher.It provides archives of sources such as newspapers, periodicals, dissertations, and aggregated databases of many types. Its content is estimated at 125 billion digital pages...
, Ann Arbor, since 1938. UMI has had an agitated life and the bibliographical data have often shifted owner and name, and therefore appears under different labels. It covers doctoral dissertations accepted at an accredited American institution since 1861. Selected Masters theses have been included since 1962; since 1988, the database includes citations for dissertations from 50 British universities that are available at The British Document Supply Centre. Besides it covers a limited number of dissertations from the rest of the world.
The print version is published monthly and cumulated annually an it is available both in softcover and on microfiche. It is divided in three sections:
- Section A, Humanities and Social Sciences
- Section B, Sciences and Engineering.
- Section C ((DAI-C),(formerly European Dissertations) covers non-North American materials, most of them unavailable for purchase from ProQuest. As of 2008, ProQuest no longer offers DAI-C as a separate product.
Historical notes
In 1962, the Xerox Corporation bought UMI. Xerox introduced some changes and in 1971 UMI changed its name to Xerox University Microfilms, but in 1976 reverted to University Microfilms International. In 1985, UMI was sold to Bell & Howell, who changed the name to Bell & Howell Information and Learning in 1999. In 2001 Bell and Howell created the ProQuestProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based electronic publisher and microfilm publisher.It provides archives of sources such as newspapers, periodicals, dissertations, and aggregated databases of many types. Its content is estimated at 125 billion digital pages...
Company. December 2006, the Cambridge Information Group
Cambridge Information Group
Cambridge Information Group is a privately owned group of information services and publishing companies and educational institutions. It was founded in 1971 by Robert N. Snyder and Philip E. Hixon and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. As of 2007, CIG’s operating companies are ProQuest, R.R....
(CIG) bought the unit of ProQuest called ProQuest Information and Learning (which included UMI).
Former titles and print titles: From 1969: Dissertations Abstract International; from 1951: Dissertations Abstracts; from Microfilm Abstracts (an annual catalog of the dissertations available for sale from UMI), American Doctoral Dissertations (ADD), (until 1964): Index to American Doctoral Dissertations, (until 1956): Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities. Masters Abstracts International (MAI).
There are different versions in print and online. The online version is Dissertation Abstracts Online while the print bibliography is termed Dissertation Abstracts International. Material except the abstracts themselves were issued also on CD-ROM under the title: Dissertation abstracts ondisc.
- 1997: Dissertations go digital with ProQuest Digital Dissertations
- 1998: Library of Congress recognizes UMI as offsite repository of Digital Dissertations Library
Access to Full Texts
Aside from citations and abstracts, the PQDT database provides access to the full texts of more than a million graduate works produced since 1997, in PDF format. Access to the full texts is, however, limited to users at the originating universities, although 24-page previews of those works are available more widely.See also
- Abstract (summary)Abstract (summary)An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a...
- Bibliographic databaseBibliographic databaseA bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc...
- Full text databaseFull text databaseA full text database or a complete text database is a database that contains the complete text of books, dissertations, journals, magazines, newspapers or other kinds of textual documents...
- Gray literatureGray literatureGray literature is a field in library and information science. The term is used variably by the intellectual community, librarians, and medical and research professionals to refer to a body of materials that cannot be found easily through conventional channels such as publishers, "but which is...
- Indexing and abstracting serviceIndexing and abstracting serviceAn abstracting service is a service that provides abstracts of publications, often on a subject or group of related subjects, usually on a subscription basis. An indexing service is a service that assign descriptors and other kinds of access points to documents...
- ProQuest Dissertations and ThesesProquest Dissertations and ThesesProQuest Dissertations and Theses is an online database that indexes, abstracts, and provides full-text access to dissertations and theses. The database includes over 2.4 million records and covers 1637 to the present. It is produced by ProQuest and was formerly known as ProQuest Digital...
- ThesisThesisA dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...