College and Research Libraries JOAN ASH The Exchange of Academic Dissertations The use of academic dissertations for exchange by American libraries has greatly diminished since University Microfilms expanded its pro- gram for the publication of American dissertations in the early 1950s. Practices in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union indicate that European dissertation distribution has been er- ratic. As a result, access to American dissertations abroad and to for- eign dissertations in the United States poses many problems. A pro- gram appears to be needed which would enable libraries once again to use dissertations for exchange and thus insure access to them. THE EXCHANGE OF dissertations within the United States has been hampered in recent years by the rigid control of a private enterprise, whereas the ex- change of theses in Europe and across the Atlantic has been stultified by lack of any significant organization. The problems confronting libraries concerning doctoral theses include bib- liographic access, physical access, and acquisition cost. The following pages will discuss the latter two problems in regard to theses written throughout the world. In the United States all universities with the exception of Harvard, Chicago, and M.I.T. participate in the disserta- tion program · of University Microfilms, Inc.1 Founded in 1938, this is a private enterprise, located in Ann Arbor, Mich- igan, which has recently been acquired by the Xerox Corporation. The first issue of its first publication, Microfilm Ab- stracts, 2 listed seventeen dissertations 1 Jack Plotkin, "Dissertations and Interlibrary Loan," Reference Quarterly, IV (January 1965), 8. 2 Microfilm Abstracts, A Collection of Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations Which Are Available in Com- plete Form on Microfilm (Vols. 1-11; [Ann Arbor, Michigan : University Microfilms, 1938-1951] ). Miss Ash ~ on the staff of the Bio- medical Library, UCLA. from five universities. Beginning in 1912, and until 1938, the Library of Congress had published a List of American Doc- toral Dissertations3 which listed theses. From 1938 to 1953 theses were not usu- ally published in the United States since this was no longer a university require- ment, and University Microfilms was in- sufficiently subscribed to to be an ef- fective center for exchange. Most of the reasons offered for the suspension of the publication requirement were financial. 4 In 1951 the Association for Research Libraries appointed a committee to study the availability of dissertations. The group faced several problems. Many universities which had formerly published abstracts of their dissertations had ceased doing so, and they had be- come nearly nonexistent. Interlibrary loan of typed theses was expensive, since they had to be mailed "First Class." No central bibliographic guide was available. Two years later, the com- mittee recommended that, since U ni- versity Microfilms already had the knowledge and equipment to handle the dissertations, they should become 8 List of American Doctoral Dissertations Printed in 1912-38 (Vols. 1-26 [Washington : Government Print- ing Office, 1913-1940] ). ~ "Doctoral Dissertation Program Explained," UM Microcosm, VII (Winter 1961-1962), 6. I 231 238 I College & Research Libraries • May 1969 accepted as the central source for them and should expand to include all Amer- ican universities as members. 5 Micro- film Abstracts changed its title with Vol- ume XI and became Dissertation Ab- stracts.6 The University Microfilms scheme for the publication of doctoral dissertations is as follows: When a candidate submits his dissertation for acceptance, he pays a fee (now $20) to his university. This is accompanied by a six-hundred-word abstract. The university forwards these with the typescript dissertation to U ni- versity Microfilms, which then returns the typed copy after microfilming it. The thesis may then be copyrighted at the author's request, but University Mi- crofilms has the sole right to publish this thesis either by microform or xerogra- phy.7 When University Microfilms became the central agency in 1953, librarians were optimistic. Vernon D. Tate aroused great interest with his article "Defrost- ing a Frozen Asset: The Publication of Doctoral Dissertations."8 He applauded the University Microfilms system and implied that all problems would soon be solved. A wave of similar articles soon followed. The wave quickly receded. Since the early 1950s little has been written con- cerning the problems with University Microfilms, and the field of dissertation exchange has suffered a period of aca- demic dormancy. Bibliographic access has improved along with physical access in the United States, but access abroad remains a problem. Distribution of dissertations in Europe is lamentable. Each country, of course, is a special case. France required pub- 6 Plotkin, op. cit., p. 6. 6 Dissertation Abstracts (Vol. 1 to date [Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1938 to date]) . Vols. 1-11, 1938-1951, issued with the title Microfilm Abstracts. 7 "Doctoral Dissertation Program Explained," op. cit., p. 6. 8 Vernon D. Tate, "Defrosting a Frozen Asset: The Publication of Doctoral Dissertations," College & Re- search Libraries, XIV (January 1953), 35-38, 45. lication of all dissertations before World War II. One copy was given to the U ni- versity of Paris, one to the Bibliotheque N ationale, one to each French univer- sity library, and many were saved for foreign exchange. 9 Since 1948, however, universal publication was found to be too expensive. The government now prints only the most outstanding theses. Fortunately for American libraries, the university at which the thesis is present- ed usually processes a few copies, avail- able on request. In 1951 French thesis exchange to all but a few American li- braries was curtailed "because of the marked imbalance between French the- ses issued and foreign theses received."10 France was gaining few American the- ses in return for her own, because of the inability of American universities to copy their own dissertations under the University Microfilms agreement. Since 1952 only the Center for Research Li- braries, Johns Hopkins University, Har- vard, Yale, and Columbia have been re- ceiving French dissertations. 11 Universi- ty Microfilms itself remains uninvolved with foreign dissertations. American scholars, then, have limited access to these. Interlibrary loan and copying on a limited scale are possible, but are con- venient only in the northeastern United States. On the other hand, there may be no copy of a requested American thesis anywhere in France, and the French li- brarian is forced to acquire it on micro- film from Michigan and wait from three to six weeks for it. The history of dissertation distribution in Germany is similar. The requirement to print dissertations was suspended in 1941. In 1951 it was decided that each candidate would be required to distrib- ute five typed, reproduced, or printed copies among certain German libraries: one to the Deutsche Bibliotek at Frank- 11 David Bishop, "Science Thesis Control in Europe and America," American Documentation, X (January 1959), 52. to Ibid., p. 53. u Ibid., p. 53. Exchange of Academic Dissertations I 239 furt-am-Main as the West German cen- ter; one to the Deutsche Biicherei at Leipzig as the center for all German dis- sertations; one to the University Library at Berlin (East), as the historical col- lecting point for dissertations; and two to the candidate's universitf.library, one for deposit and one for interlibrary loan. 12 Unlike France, Germany reproduces dissertations in considerable quantity. Usually 150 or more copies are given the university library by the candidate. They are distributed to each German university library and to many libraries abroad, regardless of whether or not theses are received in return.13 Access therefore to the German theses in Amer- ican libraries is easier than to the French. Access to American dissertations is no better in Germany, however, than in France. Britain is in a worse position to ex- change theses with the United States than either France or Germany. Only one copy of each British thesis is made and deposited at the author's own universi- ty.14 Copies can be acquired on request, but no dissemination program has been organized. The Committee of the Uni- versity and Research Section of the Li- brary Association has studied the ways and means of publishing de- tailed information about the contents of theses accepted in British universities and increasing their availability.15 A scheme by which availability would be increased has not yet been de- veloped. Much study was given to the University Microfilms arrangement in the United States, but the problems in- volved could not be solved. The main objection was the copyright question. 12 Walter Bauhuis, " German Dissertations: The Pres- ent Situation," College & Research L ibraries, XVIII {May 1957) , 205. 13 R. Stromeyer, "Treatment of Dissertations in German Universities and Libraries," UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries, XIV (July 1960) , 166. H Bishop, op. cit ., p. 54. 15 " Availability of Theses," Library Association Rec- ord, LX (January 1958), 13. The author, it was felt, should have copyright privileges, but under the Uni- versity Microfilms plan a commercial firm has it. In addition, it was feared that sometimes classified information might be contained in a thesis and should not be released publicly. Some universities also felt it unfair to publish information which would be subject to pirating.16 As a result of these ob- jections, the two major English-speaking countries of the world have no large- scale dissertation exchange program. Practices of dissertation dissemination in the Soviet Union take yet another form. Although higher education was reorganized in 1934 in Russia, it was not until1955 that a regular current reg- istration of dissertations was begun and 1957 that publication became required. 17 As in the Scandinavian countries, there is a trend toward thesis publication in journals. This is an excellent way to bring attention to a dissertation, since journals are more widely read than sep- arately published theses. The drawback is that publication in journals is usually only in partial form. The complete dis- sertation in typed form may only be available in two places, the national li- brary and the institution where the the- sis was presented.18 There is no indica- tion in the literature that any exchanges are carried on. Access to Soviet disserta- tions in the United States, then, is pri- marily through journals, and American dissertations are apparently difficult to obtain in the Soviet Union. The use of academic dissertations for exchange by American libraries has greatly diminished since University Mi- crofilms extended its program in 1953. Occasionally, a scholar will have his thesis privately printed and distributed, but copies produced in this way are now the only source for dissertation exchange except for those few universities which 16 Ibid. , p. 13-14. 17 Eleanor Buist, "Soviet Dissertation Lists Since 1934,'' Library Quarterly, XXXIII {April 1963), 192. 18 Ibid. , p . 194-95. 240 I College & Research Libraries • May 1969 have refused to participate in the U ni- versity Microfilms program. University Microfilms has developed several activities which have improved the access and availability of American dissertations. Dissertation Abstracts has been so successful that it was forced to print its abstracts of theses from over 190 institutions monthly in two different sections: Section A, the Humanities; and Section B, The Sciences. 19 The In- dex to American Doctoral Disserta- tions20 was begun in 1957 and includes not only all theses available on micro- film, but most others written in the United States as well. Masters Ab- stracts, 21 begun in 1962, publishes short abstracts of selected theses available from University Microfilms. A large step towards increased serv- ice following the acquisition of Uni- versity Microfilms by Xerox in July 1967 when DATRIX (Direct Access to Ref- erence. Information: A Xerox Service) was begun. University Microfilms now performs on demand a computerized search of all of its doctoral dissertations. A researcher formulates his own in- quiry using one of three keyword lists in Chemistry and the Life Sciences, En- gineering and the Physical Sciences, or Humanities and the Social Sciences. He fills out an order form, sends it to Uni- versity Microfilms, and within a few days receives a bibliography of disserta- tions relevant to his research. This is done at the rate of $5 for the first ten references and ten cents for each ad- ·ditional reference. 22 The requester may then order from University Microfilms the references he would like to pur- 19 Dissertation Abstracts ( May 1968), iii. 20 Index to American Doctoral Dissertations (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1957 to date). Issued as Dissertation Abstracts, vol. 16, no. 13 and continued. 21 Masters Abstracts: Abstracts of Selected Masters Theses on Microfilm ( vol. 1 to date; Ann Arbor, Mich- I gan; University Microfilms, 1962 to date). 22 "126,000 Dissertations Searche.d by Computer- Based System," UM Microcosm, XII (June 1967), 1, 6. chase. At present, he can buy positive 35mm microcopies of theses at one and one quarter cents per page or a mini- mum of $3 per thesis. He may also ob- tain Xerox copies for four and one half cents or six and one half cents per page, depending on size, at a $3 minimum. Prices are listed in the University Micro- films abstracting services.23 In September 1956 the International Association of Technical University Li- braries ( lA TUL) section of the Inter- national Federation of Library Associa- tions discussed thesis exchange between the United States and Europe and rec- ommended: (1) that each member Eu- ropean library continue sending its the- ses to selected American libraries; ( 2) that each European library receive in exchange a complete set of American dissertations on microfilm; ( 3.) that the United States send one copy of Dis- sertation Abstracts to each member Eu- ropean library; and ( 4) that arrange- ments for these exchanges be made through national library associations. 24 The recommendations were apparently disregarded, as no mention of their im- plementation is recorded in later litera- ture. Cooperative efforts are being made in the United States to handle European dissertations. The Center for Research Libraries receives a large number of the- ses and makes them available through interlibrary loan or copying. Other smaller cooperative organizations, such as the Medical Library Center of New York, are attempting similar practices. Perhaps an international plan for the handling of dissertations could follow along the same lines: ( 1) each Euro- pean library could continue sending the- ses to selected American libraries des- ignated as "dissertation centers"; ( 2) a few selected <