1. You find a dissertation citation in a database or in a bibliography.
2. Check ProQuest Dissertations, an institutional repository (IDEALS is UIUC's, other institutions have their own as well), NDLTD, or one of the country-specific sites like Theses Canada if applicable, to see if the dissertation is available there in full text.
3. If the dissertation isn't online, check WorldCat to see if our Library owns a copy or if you can find a library that will loan a copy via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
4. If no copy is available through ILL, you can purchase a copy from ProQuest or ask that the Library buy a copy.
Check IDEALS for full-text online copies of UIUC dissertations produced since 1958.
The UIUC Library should have at least one copy of all theses and dissertations granted at UIUC. Copies of dissertations deposited at UIUC from 1978 to the present are accessible by author and title through the library catalog. Beginning with 1983, archival copies can also be searched by department and year.
Interlibrary Loan
The Interlibrary Loan Office can help you obtain theses and dissertations not owned by the university and not available in pdf format through ProQuest Dissertations. They provide 2 options:
Dissertation Express (direct via ProQuest)
If you quickly need a print copy of a dissertation that is not available for download and don't mind paying the full cost yourself, you can order it directly from Proquest's Dissertation Express as an individual. Otherwise, use one of the Interlibrary loan options described above.
