1. Finding and accessing theses
Please connect your speakers or headphones to listen to the audio
narration of the course. You can click on the speaker icon to
listen again to the audio for that part of the course.
To move through the course use the panel below. Will return
you to the contents page, will take you to the previous slide
and will advance you to the next slide. Alternatively, use the
arrows on your keyboard.
Please select to continue the course.

2. 1 of 10
Using the course
This course has been designed so that you can learn at your own pace and dip into the
information that you need to know, bypassing that which you are already familiar
with. Alternatively, if you wish to follow the whole course it should take one hour to
complete.
The course uses a variety of online media to help you learn more about finding and
accessing theses. These are:
• audio files. The whole course is narrated. The slides contain a transcript of the
audio. The videos, however, are stand alone. If you have not already done so,
please see if your speakers/headphones are working now.
• demonstrations, which show you how to use a particular resource. This has been
used where logins are required or to illustrate full-text access without having to
wait for a thesis to download in real time.
• tutorials, which are used to let you have a go at accessing the resource and
searching for theses with guidance.

3. 2 of 10
Course synopsis
Doctoral theses are key research resources. This online course will introduce you to a
number of tools available for searching for the details and full-text of theses from
Durham University, UK and international universities.
By the end of this session you should be able to:
• search for print theses from Durham University
• search for and access e-theses from Durham University
• find bibliographic data on theses from UK universities
• search for and access full-text theses from UK universities via EThOS
• use ProQuest Digital Dissertations to view the full text of theses from North
America
• use tools for searching for Open Access full-text theses across the world

4. 3 of 10
Contents
You may only need to learn about a particular tool or type of thesis. Use the left-hand
menu below to navigate to the information you need.
Alternatively press the arrow below to progress through the course.
Finding Durham • Using the library catalogue
• Using Durham e-Theses
theses
Theses at other UK • Finding bibliographic details using Index to Theses
universities • Finding full text using EThOS
• Finding North American theses using ProQuest
International theses • Open access theses from Europe and Australasia
• Please fill in the short questionnaire to let us know
Evaluation survey what you thought of the online training course

5. 4 of 10
Finding Durham Theses - 1
Finding theses on the catalogue
This tutorial will show you how to limit your searches on Durham University Library
catalogue to find print and e-theses.
When you access the tutorial, a new window will open up. This will be divided into
two frames. The left-hand window will contain instructions and the right hand window
will show the internet. You can search and navigate within this window while still
being able to read the instructions about how to find theses on Durham University
Library Catalogue.
Click here to access the tutorial on
finding theses on the library catalogue

6. 5 of 10
Finding Durham Theses - 2
Using Durham e-Theses
Since 1st October 2009, all theses passed at Durham University have been submitted
electronically and made available in Durham e-Theses http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/ . This
short video will demonstrate the benefits of using this to find online theses, in
addition to using the library catalogue.
If you have any questions about using Durham e-Theses visit the website
http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/
Click here to view the video on
using Durham e-Theses

7. 6 of 10
Theses from other UK universities - 1
Finding bibliographic details of theses
Rather than search multiple library catalogues, you can use a single resource to find
theses from other institutions. Index to Theses is a comprehensive listing of theses
accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland since 1716.
Many abstracts are included for theses from 1986 onwards. The database does not
include the full-text of theses.
The following tutorial will give an opportunity to search the database.
Click here to access the tutorial on using
Index to Theses

8. 7 of 10
Theses from other UK universities - 2
Finding full-text
EThOS is the new Document Delivery Service for accessing theses from other
institutions. Rather than receive a paper copy, the new service scans theses and
delivers them straight to your desktop. If someone else has already requested the
thesis you are interested in or if it has been submitted electronically, as with all
Durham theses from 1st October 2009, you can download it immediately.
Please watch this video (7 minutes 25 seconds) for information on how to search
EThOS and interpret the results you get for a thesis that is already available online and
one that you need to request to be scanned.
Click here to view the video on using EThOS

9. 8 of 10
International theses - 1
Theses from North America
Proquest Digital Dissertations is a database that contains the citations of 2 million
masters and doctoral theses from over 80 countries. More than 750,000 are available
in full text from the United States and Canada, and occasionally from other countries.
The following tutorial will show you how to search and browse the database and get
access to full text theses.
Click here to access the tutorial on using
ProQuest Digital Dissertations

10. 9 of 10
International theses - 2
Open Access Theses
There are a range of resources available to you to help you find full-text theses from
across the world. These tools are open access which means that they are freely
available on the internet and, unlike ProQuest Digital Dissertations, do not need to be
accessed from the library catalogue.
• Try accessing a full text thesis from
– DART - Europe e-theses portal
– ADT - Australasian Digital Thesis Program
– Networked Digitial Library of Theses and Dissertations
These resources are also linked to from www.dur.ac.uk/library/using/finding/theses/

11. 10 of 10
More information
Thank you for completing this online tutorial. We hope that you have found it useful.
Further information
Details of all the resources used in this online training course are available at
www.dur.ac.uk/library/using/finding/theses/
This online course was created by Laura Jeffrey, Researcher Training Librarian. If you
have any questions about the course or about research support in general please
contact me at l.k.s.jeffrey@durham.ac.uk or on 0191 3342970.
Evaluation
Please fill in this survey to tell us what you thought of this online training course.
www.survey.bris.ac.uk/durham/thesesonline
exit