Education Research Tutorial

The Library makes available all theses completed by UCM students. Theses completed prior to December 2010 are found on the third floor of the library and are available to be checked out. A second copy of each print thesis is found in the Special Collections area. Although this archival copy can't be checked out, you may use it in the library if the circulating copy is not available. Because the thesis collection is arranged by the last name of the author, rather than by subject, it is a difficult collection to browse.

To find print copies, search on the library’s main page, library.ucmo.edu in the search bar.

1. If you have a specific title or author, enter it in the main search box. This should produce a list of results.
2. If you are doing a subject search, put in the subject terms and hit enter.
   • On the left side of the page you will now have options for narrowing your search.
   • Under Resource Type – select Dissertations and “Apply Filters”. All of the UCM dissertations will have the call number LD3429.

Finding Electronic Theses 
As of December 2010, UCM student theses have been submitted electronically and are now available in the JCK Digital Repository.

• On the Library home page, click on Browse Databases.
• Click on “J” [for JCKL]
• This takes you to a page with several digital repositories. Select Graduate Theses and Papers.
• Using the “Search inside the collection” box at the top of the page, you may search the electronic thesis collection by date, author, title, or subject. Remember, that the UCM theses digitized collection only dates back to 2010. Print copies of earlier theses are available in the library.

The library has a substantial thesis collection but few dissertations. The most comprehensive source of dissertations and theses in all disciplines is the database ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Search tip: Try changing the search default  from searching "anywhere" to "document title" to look for words in the title.
Dissertations use a very "academic" writing style and the titles tend to be long and descriptive, so searching for a title word can be helpful. 

Students researching education topics should also check the ERIC database, as some dissertations are available there. Be sure to limit the publication type to Dissertations/Theses in order to restrict your search results.

You may also want to check a resource available on the free web: PQDT Open. This site makes many open access theses and dissertations available in electronic format.