How to Find Northwestern University Dissertations and Masters Theses

All Northwestern University doctoral dissertations and selected masters theses are listed in NUcat, the Northwestern online catalog. The easiest way to search for them is by author or by title, if known.

To search for theses or dissertations from a particular academic department or to search by topic, use one of NUcat's keyword search options.

For example, at the main NUcat search screen type "nu dissertation" and the name of the department in which the dissertation was completed in the Find This box:

Then, select Keyword (use "and, or, not") from the Search in menu, and click the Search button. You can also use this strategy to locate dissertations by topic, for example:

"nu dissertation" and "venture capital"

Dissertations in the University Library

Currently, bound dissertations and theses through 2001 must be requested at the Circulation Desk or using the online request form. Bound dissertations 2002-2006 are located in the Lower Level of the Main Library.

The library also holds duplicate copies of many of these dissertations on microfilm for use in the Periodicals & Newspaper Reading Room. If the library has only a single copy of a dissertation, that copy may be designated as non-circulating. In addition, copies of certain dissertations may also be available in departmental libraries such as Science and Engineering, Geology, Math and Music.

Northwestern University dissertations dating from 1996 to the present are also available online through the NUcat record, and the database

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Masters Theses

Through the years, not all academic departments within the University have required masters theses, and most copies have not been deposited in the Library. Some of the masters theses that have been received by the Library are listed in NUcat (exceptions are listed below), and are part of the Library's paged collection; that is, to look at one of these theses, you will need to request it at the Circulation Desk or using the online request form.

School of Management Masters Theses

1921-1947: These titles are not listed in NUcat, but are listed by year in a binder available in the Reference Room (ask for assistance at the Reference Desk).

1948-1961: These titles—for an early MBA degree, which was granted for the last time in 1961—are listed in NUcat.

Dissertations from Other Universities

The University Library owns only a few dissertations completed by students at other universities (an exception is the Africana library which purchases extensively within African studies). Those that are available can be found in NUcat.

The University Library's Interlibrary Loan department is quite successful in borrowing copies of dissertations from most American universities as well as some foreign universities for NU students, faculty and staff.

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL), of which Northwestern University is a member, collects foreign dissertations and will often order requested titles to add to their collection. For further information about borrowing dissertations from CRL, contact the Northwestern University Library Interlibrary Loan department.

The ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database is the primary tool for identifying U.S. dissertations. The Index to Theses is a database of dissertations completed in Great Britain and Ireland. If you need help locating a dissertation completed elsewhere in the world, please contact a Reference librarian.

Last Updated: 09/07/2007