College and Research Libraries


Index to Dissertation Abstracts 

Tms NOTE is intended to facilitate the 
use of the indexes of Microfilm Abstracts 
and Dissertation Abstracts. The present 
title, Dissertation Abstracts, began with 
volume twelve. 

1. The first eleven volumes, Microfilm 
Abstracts, are covered by a single cumu-
lated author index, published by the 
Georgia Chapter of the Special Libraries 
Association in 1956. Approaching these 
first eleven volumes by subject is some-
what more difficult. The only subject lists 
available are cumulated tables of contents, 
arranged by broad topic, e.g.: chemistry; 
political science; literature, American. 
The following cumulations of these lists 
need to be searched to cover the first 
eleven volumes: Vol. 3 no. 2; Vol. 6 no. 
2; Vol. 9 no. 3; Vol. 10 no. 4; Vol. 11 
no. 4. 

2. Volumes twelve through fifteen 
(Dissertation Abstracts) contain single-
year author and subject indexes at the 
end of each volume. The subject portion 
of these annual indexes is, again, a cumu-
lation of the tables of contents of the 
separate nuD?-bers. . 

3. Beginning with volume sateen 
(1956) Dissertation Abstracts took over 
the publication of the Index to Am~rican 
Doctoral Dissertations, an annual mdex 
to all American doctoral dissertations. 
The Index has an author index and an 
arrangement of subject headings some-
what finer than those used in Dissertation 
Abstracts, but it is not so detailed as those 
found in a standard dictionary catalog. 

4. Volumes sixteen and seventeen of 
Dissertation Abstracts depend entirely 
upon the Index to A.meri~an Docto~al 
Dissertations for their mdexmg. If a dis-
sertation has been microfilmed and is 
abstracted in volume sixteen or seventeen 

JULY 1964 

BY CARL E. ORGREN 

Mr. Orgren is Chief Reference Librarian 
in the University of Detroit. 

of Dissertation Abstracts, its entry in the 
subject or author portions of Index to 
American Doctoral Dissertations will give 
its location in Dissertation Abstracts. 

5. Volumes eighteen and nineteen of 
Dissertation Abstracts are covered by a 
separately published, cumulated, two-
year author index. For a subject approach 
to these volumes it is necessary to refer 
to the relevant volumes of Index to 
American Doctoral Dissertations. The 
method of such a subject search is indi-
rect. The searcher first finds a dissertation 
in which he is interested in the subject 
entries of Index to American Doctoral 
Dissertations. This entry will give the 
author. The author's name is then 
checked in the cumulated author index 
to volumes eighteen and nineteen of Dis-
sertations Abstracts to see if that particu-
lar dissertation was microfilmed and ab-
stracted. 

6. Volumes twenty and twenty-one of 
Dissertation Abstracts have single vol-
ume author indexes at the end of each 
volume. Subject searches are done, again, 
by using the corresponding volumes of 
the Index to American Doctoral Disserta-
tions. 

7. Beginning with volume twenty-two 
of Dissertation Abstracts a new policy 
has been followed. A subject index ap-
pears in each number along with the 
usual author index. At the end of the vol-
ume (no. 12, Part 11) these are cumu-
lated. These cumulated volume indexes 
include for the first time a true subject 
index. The subject headings are basically 

279 



SUBJECT INDEXES 
Volume Number 

3 2 
6 2 
9 3 

10 4 
11 4 
12 6 
13 6 
14 12 
15 12 
16 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1955-56 
17 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1956-57 
18 7 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1957-58 
19 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1958-59 
20 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1959-60 
21 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1960-61 
22 12 Part II 
23 12 Part II 

AUTHOR INDEXES 
Volume Number 

1-11 cumulated author index 
12 
13 6 
14 12 
15 12 
16 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1955-56 
17 13 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 1956-57 

18-19 cumulated author index 
20 12 Part II 
21 Vol. 22 no. 5, usually bound at end of Vol. 21 
22 12 Part II 
23 12 Part II 

those of the Library of Congress and so 
are familiar to many users. 

Index to American Doctoral Disserta-
tions has been treated here chiefly as it 
concerns the indexing of Dissertation Ab-
stracts. It is necessary to point out that it 
is an important service in its own right. 
It is not limited- to the listing of micro-
filmed dissertations as is Dissertation Ab-
stracts. It is a more complete list of 
American doctoral dissertations, and so 
is the first place to look if only basic bib-
liographical information of the disserta-
tion is needed. 

The information thus far contained in 
this note may be assembled in tabular 
form for convenience in searching: 

Such a search can be simplified by the 
use of colored tabs . The above index vol-
umes may be tabbed in red, including 
the volumes of Index to American Doc-
toral Dissertations which serve as indexes 
to Dissertation Abstracts. All volumes of 
Index to American Doctoral Dissertations 
may be tabbed in green. •• 
280 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES