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Dissertation Abstracts

Revised 7/7/2002

Database name: Dissertations
Short database name: DABS
Available on: New FirstSearch Test Server and Production Server

Why select this database?

  • Dissertation Abstracts Online covers dissertations accepted at accredited U.S institutions since 1861.
  • It selectively covers masters theses, Canadian dissertations, and British and other European dissertations.
  • It is produced by ProQuest Information and Learning.
Subjects included
The full range of academic subjects found in dissertations.

Coverage/update frequency

  • Covers 1861 to the present; includes abstracts for doctoral dissertations beginning  
    July 1980, and for masters theses beginning spring 1988.
  • New records are added monthly.

Record display information

List of FirstSearch fields for Business Dateline and the MARC fields to which they correspond:

Field Name MARC field(s)
Year 008
ISBN 020/a
Accession Number 035/a
Author 100/a
Translated Title 242/a
Title 245/a
Publisher 260/b
Abstract 520/a
Language 546/a
Subject Code 650/9
Subject 650/a
Citation 773/g
Location of Reference Copy 852/a
Database ID 904/c
DAI/MAI Volume, Issue 904/d
Advisor's Name 904/e
Advisor's Name Reversed 904/f
Advisor's Title 904/g
Institution Name 904/h
Institution Code 904/i
Degree 904/j
Degree Year 904/k
DAI/MAI Publication Page Number 904/L
Number of Pages 904/m
Language Restrictor Field 904/n
Volume 949/a
Issue 949/b
Date 949/e
Marketing Standardized Date 949/g
Content Type 949/i
Julian Date 949/j
OCLC Display Type 949/x

Indexes

What follows is a list of FirstSearch indexes and the combination of USE and STRUCTURE attributes that can be used to access them.

  1. For any FirstSearch label where multiple USE attributes are listed all the attributes will provide the exact same search result sets.
  2. Any USE attribute that is not marked as a restrictor is available via the SCAN service.
  3. Restrictors are specially implemented indexes and are not available for scanning. Terms for these must be ANDed with other terms to limit the size of the result set. See the table provided for each restrictor to determine valid terms and their associated meaning.

FirstSearch Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them:

Index Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute Indexed Fields and Subfields
Keyword (kw) Any 1016
5110 		2 Contents of:
ab index
ti index
de index
su index
Author (au, au=) Author-name 1003 1, 2 100/a
Advisor (av) OCLC Defined 5020 2 904/e,f
Advisor (av=) OCLC Defined 5020 1 904/f
Descriptor (de, de=) OCLC Defined 5650 1, 2 650/a
Accession Number (no) Control number-local 12 2 035/a
Publication Date (pd) Date 30 2 949/e,g
Subject (su, su=) Subject 21 1, 2 650/a,9
Title (ti, ti=) Title 4 1, 2 245/a
242/a
Year (yr)* Date-publication 31 5 008/<date>
Abstract (ab) Abstract 62 2 520/a
Language (ln=)* Code-language 54 1 904/n
Institution (in=) OCLC Defined 5021 1 904/h,i
Standard Number (sn) Identifier-standard 1007 2 020/a

Restrictors

The following restrictors can be used only in conjunction with an index search.   They must be added to an index search with the Boolean AND in order to receive results:

Restrictor Type Input Use Attribute Structure Attribute
Year All years
Single year
Range of years		 —
19xx, 20xx
19xx - 20xx		 31 5
Language All
English
Non-English		 —
english
nonenglish		 54 1
Degree Type No Limit
Masters
Doctorate		 —
ma
phd		 5022 2
Supplier Availability All
Available
Unavailable 		—
available
unavailable 		5970 2

* Year and language are both indexes and restrictors.

Sorting

Search results in the Dissertation Abstracts database can be sorted by Author (1003), Title (4), Year (31), Descriptor (5650), and Institution (5021).

General punctuation rules

(Exceptions are made, but these are generally correct):

Punctuation Rule Punctuation Rule
" Delete and collapse $ Delete and collapse
' (apostrophe) Delete and collapse % Delete and collapse
. Delete and collapse * Delete and collapse
, (comma) Delete and collapse + Delete and collapse
; Delete and collapse > Delete and collapse
: Delete and collapse < Delete and collapse
() Delete and collapse @ Delete and collapse
<> Delete and collapse ? Delete and collapse
{} Delete and collapse -- Delete and collapse
[] Delete and collapse / Substitute a space
= Delete and collapse - Retain and index
! Delete and collapse & Retain and index
# Delete and collapse

Searching tips

Keyword Searches (1016): The Keyword search includes the elements from the Abstract, Title, Descriptor, and Subject indexes.

Using limiters:  Use the Year (31) and Language (54) limits to narrow the focus of your search.  The Degree Type limit (5022) lets you narrow your search to masters degrees or Ph.D. degrees.

Copyright

(Copyright 2008 )
© 2008 ProQuest Information and Learning: All Rights Reserved. Only fair use, as provided by the United States Copyright law, is permitted. ProQuest Information and Learning makes no warranty regarding the accuracy, completeness or timelines of the Publications or the records they contain, or any warranty, express or implies, including any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, and shall not be liable for damages of any kind or lost profits or other claims related to them or their uses.