LibGuides: Checking Things Out: Requesting Theses and Dissertations

Finding and Requesting Theses and Dissertations via ILL

You can find many dissertations or theses online by searching in a variety of databases, listed below.

If you're looking for a thesis or dissertation that was written by an Illinois Tech graduate, it may already be available to view. Follow this guide for instructions on how to search the IIT Theses and Dissertations Database to find what you're looking for.

If the Illinois Tech thesis or dissertation that you're looking for is not available online, you can submit a request to the Interlibrary Loan department to have the work scanned and shared with you. Complete a Scan and Deliver Form after logging into MyILL with your Illinois Tech login credentials.

Using MyILL to Request an IIT Thesis/Dissertation

If you're unable to find an online copy of an IIT Thesis or Dissertation in the Dissertations and Theses at IIT database, you can submit a request for it to be scanned and shared with you via MyILL.

After logging in with your Illinois Tech credentials, click Create Request.

You can choose between different types of requests, each with its own form. Click on Scan and Deliver.

Fill out as many of the fields as you can as accurately as you can, then click Submit Request.

The ILL staff will locate the thesis/dissertation in the Galvin Library Archives and will scan it to a PDF document, which will then be shared with you.

Thesis/Dissertation Databases and Resources

APA PsycINFO
APA PsycINFO is a specialized database focusing on behavioral and social sciences, providing access to a vast collection of psychological literature and research in the form of journal articles, books, dissertations, and technical reports. An essential resource for researchers in psychology and related fields.
CERN Document Server
Preprints, articles, books, journals, and photographs on particle physics and related subjects.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses is a database containing millions of doctoral dissertations and master's theses from universities around the world. It provides researchers with access to original scholarly work across numerous disciplines, offering full-text downloads for many recent submissions and abstracts for older works, making it an essential resource for in-depth academic research and literature reviews.
Dissertations and Theses at IIT
Subset of Dissertations and Theses, an online database of doctoral dissertations, featuring work by IIT students. Full-text is available for many items, and ordering/purchasing information is included for those items with no full-text.
GRC Theses List
This spreadsheet includes information on the authors, titles, and dates of publication of theses written by graduates of the College of Architecture at IIT.
NASA STI Repository (NTRS)
The NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) covers the complete history of NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), from 1915 to forward.
OSTI.GOV
Free public access to over 200,000 full-text documents and bibliographic citations of Department of Energy (DOE) research report literature.
The Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information provides free public access to over 200,000 full-text documents and 3,000,000 bibliographic citations of Department of Energy (DOE) research report literature. Documents are primarily from 1991 forward and were produced by DOE, the DOE contractor community, and/or DOE grantees. Legacy documents are added as they become available in electronic format.

The Information Bridge contains documents and citations in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics of interest related to DOE's mission.
ProQuest SciTech Collection
The ProQuest SciTech Collection is a database providing access to scientific and technical literature across various disciplines. It offers full-text articles, abstracts, and citations from journals, conference proceedings, and technical reports in fields such as engineering, computer science, physics, and environmental science.
The SciTech Premium Collection includes the Natural Science Collection and the Technology Collection and provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications, and more.

For those researchers who need to conduct comprehensive literature reviews, this database includes specialized, editorial-controlled A&I resources for discovery of relevant scholarly research and technical literature critical to the discipline.
repository.iit
The repository supports cross-disciplinary collaboration by collecting, preserving, disseminating, and providing persistent and reliable access to all faculty, staff, and student digital research and scholarship. It is supported and maintained by the Paul V. Galvin Library. The repository also preserves library and archival collections, and serves as a living archive for other materials representing the many diverse aspects of the IIT community.
WorldCat
WorldCat is an online catalog that contains the holdings of more than 8,000 libraries worldwide. You can place requests in WorldCat for materials (minus textbooks) not owned by IIT or I-Share Libraries.

Journal articles are scanned delivered very quickly, usually 2-3 business days; books will take longer since they have to be mailed from out of state.
WorldCat Dissertation and Theses
Search dissertations and theses held in over 8,000 libraries worldwide