Manual Home >> Borrowing & Ordering >> Dissertations

Interlibrary Borrowing will attempt to borrow dissertations for patrons only if the dissertation cannot be purchased (please note that not all dissertations are available to be borrowed, even if the dissertation may not be purchased).

If the dissertation can be purchased, then the patron must purchase it.

Public page for finding Non-MIT theses: http://libraries.mit.edu/help/non-mit-thesis.html.

A few tips:

• ProQuest and UMI are the same company. (The dissertations division is what used to be UMI.)
• Most US & Canadian dissertations are available in ProQuest's Dissertation Express.
• UK dissertations often display the message: "Available from UMI in association with the British Library."
  • Order UK dissertations from either ProQuest (800-521-3042 or info@umi.com) or the British Library.
• For foreign dissertations
  • Search the library of the institution from which the thesis originated or the relevant national library catalog (most have an English interface).
  • Check for policies on duplication or lending.
  • If the thesis cannot be duplicated, but may be borrowed
    • Request via ILB.
    • Give all of the information (include relevant URLs from the foreign library) to ILB in the comments field.
• Scandinavian libraries are usually very accommodating and may even send the dissertation for free.