The ISU Library has a complete run of master's theses and doctoral dissertations done by people getting their degrees from ISU. Up until Fall 2006, two copies of master's theses and doctoral dissertations were submitted to the Library. One is kept in the University Archives on the 4th floor of the library. A second copy that can be borrowed is kept in the general collection. Tier 4 is where they are housed if they have an ISU call number. Older theses and dissertations may have a regular call number and be shelved in the general collection with other books on the same subject.
Beginning Fall 2006, ISU master's theses and doctoral dissertations are submitted electronically. Electronic versions of doctoral dissertations are available from 1916 to the present. There is a link in the Library catalog to the electronic version. Electronic versions of master's theses are available from Fall 2006 to the present.
All theses and dissertations can be found through searching the library's online catalog. For theses and dissertations published from 1974 to the present, you need to use the Advanced Search feature found on the left sidebar in the online catalog. You can search for author, title, or keyword, and you can limit to theses by clicking on the limit menu option as seen below.
For theses and dissertations before 1974, you can still search by author, title or call number, but you cannot limit your search to only theses. If you are not sure of the author or title, or you want to look at earlier theses on a particular topic, you can go to Dissertation Abstracts Online. Using this index, you can limit to dissertations done at ISU. Keep in mind that Dissertation Abstracts does not index master's theses; you can only find doctoral dissertations using Dissertation Abstracts. Theses and dissertations from other institutions can often be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan.
