WorldCat Dissertations and Theses
Revised 8/23/2011
Database name: WorldCat Dissertations and Theses
Short database name: DIST
Available on: FirstSearch Production Server
Why select this database?
This database provides fast and convenient access to the dissertations and theses available in OCLC member libraries. Many theses are available electronically, at no charge, directly from the publishing institution.
Subjects included
All dissertations, theses, and published material based on theses cataloged by OCLC members, on all subjects.
Coverage/update frequency
All cataloged dissertations, theses, and published material based on theses and dissertations to the present, including all document types.
New records are added daily.
Scan doesn't limit to WorldCatDissertations (DIST)
The WorldCat Dissertations and Theses database does not always allow users to scan for search results in WorldCat Dissertations and Theses correctly. Some index scans may provide correct information extremely slowly, and often with sparse information. Other index scans may respond quickly or slowly, but with information on record counts found within all of WorldCat instead of within the WorldCat Dissertations and Theses database. Please do not use the scan option in WorldCat Dissertations and Theses.
MARC Fields
The MARC records returned from this database will be the OCLC-MARC records as they were input into the system.
This database can have any valid MARC tag in it. Besides the valid MARC tags, the following FirstSearch Locally Defined fields also exist:
| 856 fields | OCLC has added links to additional content such as cover art, table of contents, summaries and author notes. These OCLC-created 856 fields include the following subfields:
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| Evaluative content info in websites: OCLC created URLs contained in 856/u fields in full MARC syntax and under the label "Access:" in full SUTRS syntax will allow internet-based access to evaluative content (cover art, summaries, excerpts, author information, etc.) These URLs can be cut and pasted, or programmatically entered, into any browser supported by FirstSearch in order to gain access to the information. The URLs will time out after 7 days so if continued access is desired another search to receive and updated URL will need to be executed. The 856/i field is the indicator for information on the URL; because not all 856/u fields are additional evaluative content, the 856/i should be checked to be certain the 856/u link is truly a OCLC sourced link. The 856/i field contains instructions regarding the URL. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NetLibrary websites: All NetLibrary records have had additional 856 fields added that would authenticate a user's access to their library's NetLibrary book subscription, based on their FirstSearch authorization number. These 856 fields will have a subfield u with the URL and a subfield I with the instructions: "Input this URL in a browser to view e-book from NetLibrary". Note: Searching "NetLibrary" in the Access Method index can retrieve all NetLibrary books. All NetLibrary books that a FS user subscribes to can be searched by ANDing this to the library's holding symbol, assuming the library is cataloging their holdings on the OCLC WorldCat cataloging subsystem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/f | Primary document type code | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/d | Additional document type codes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/m | Material type code media/technology access | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/n | Material type text media/technology access | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/p | Material type code content | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/q | Material type text content | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/r | Music Composition code | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 945/s | Music Composition text | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 947/g | Displayable form of the LC Control Number [010/a] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 947/h | Displayable form of the LC Control Number [010/z] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 947/m | Number of holding library symbols connected to item | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 947/n | Date added to a database | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 947/p | Date last updated in Cataloging subsystem of WorldCat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 947/s | Indicator for My Library holdings. This indicates if authorization number's institution has local holdings attached in OCLC WorldCat. "Y" is yes. "N" is no. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 948 | Library Holdings Field 948/a gives the ISO country code information for each library holding the item. Additional detailed holdings information is available in FirstSearch Z39.50 Configuration Guide - Element Set Names. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 949/i | Document Types (repeating)
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| 949/x | ILL/Display type
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Indexes
FirstSearch Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them:
| Index | Description | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | Indexed Data Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword (kw)* | Any | 1016 | 2 | Fields found in the following indexes: Author keyword |
| Access Method (am)* | OCLC Defined | 1209 | 2 | 856/u |
| Access Restrictions | OCLC Defined | 5068 | 1,2 | 506/a,f |
| Accession Number (no) | Control number-local | 12 1211 | 1,2 | 001 019/a |
| Language (ln=)** | Code-language | 54 | 1, 2 | 008 <lang> 041/b,d,e,f,g,j 041/a if first indicator is zero |
| Notes/Comments (nt) | Note | 63 | 2 | 500/a 501/a 502/a-d,g,o 504/a 505/a,r,t 506/a,f 508/a 511/a 518/a,d,o,p 520/a,b 521/a 530/b,c,d,3 533/a,b,c,d,e,f,n 534/a,t 536/a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h 538/a 545/a 550/a 586/a 753/a,b,c |
| Material Type (mt)* | material-type | 1031 | 1,2 | 945/m,n,p,q |
| Place of Publication (pl) | Name-geographic-place-publication | 59 | 2 | 257/a 260/a,e 261/f 262/a 533/b 752/a,b,c,d |
| Publisher (pb) | Name-publisher | 1018 | 1,2 | 260/b,f 261/a,b,c 262/b 533/c |
| Update Date (up)* | Update date | 1012 | 2 | 005/00-07 "replaced" |
| Year of Publication (yr)* | Date-publication | 31 | 4,5 | 008 046/c |
| * Additional information on these indexes is given in the Searching Tips below. ** Language is searchable by language code or the English translation of the code. Additional information is given below the Restrictors section. | ||||
Author Searches
| Index | Description | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | Indexed Fields and Subfields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Author keyword (au) | Author-name | 1003 | 2 | 100/a,b,c,d,j,q,u 110/a,b,c,d,e,n,u 111/a,c,d,e,n,q,u 245/c 505/r 508/a 511/a 550/a 700/a,b,c,d,j,q,u 710/a,b,c,d,e,n 711/a,c,d,e,n,q 720/a 770/a 773/a 780/a 785/a 787/a 800/a,b,c,d,q,u 810/a,b,c,d,e,n 811/a,c,d,e,n,q |
| Author Phrase (au=) | Author-name | 1003 | 1 | 100/a,b,c,d,j,q 110/a,b,c,d,n 111/a,c,d,e,n,q 700/a,b,c,d,j,q 710/a,b,c,d,n 711/a,c,d,e,n,q 720/a |
| Corporate and Conference Name (cn, cn=) | Author-name-conference | 1005 1006 | 1, 2 | 110/a,b,c,d,e,n,u* 111/a,c,d,e,n,q,u 710/a,b,c,d,e,n* 711/a,c,d,e,n,q |
| Personal Name (pn, pn=) | Author-name-personal | 1004 | 1, 2 | 100/a,b,c,d,j,q,u 700/a,b,c,d,j,q,u |
| * The 100/u, 110/e,u, 700/u and 710/e are only available in the keyword forms of their respective indexes. | ||||
Subject Heading Searches*
| Index | Description | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | Indexed Fields and Subfields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject (su, su=) | Subject | 21 | 1, 2 | 600/a,b,c,d,e,g,j,k,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,v,x,y,z 610/a,b,c,d,e,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v,x,y,z 611/a,c,d,e,g,k,n,p,q,t,v,x,y,z 630/a,d,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v,x,y,z 648/a,v,x,y,z 650/a,b,v,x,y,z 651/a,v,x,y,z 653/a 654/a,b,v,x,y,z 655/a,b,v,x,y,z |
| Descriptor (de, de=) | OCLC Defined | 5650 | 1, 2 | 600/x 610/x 611/x 630/x 650/a,b,x 651/x 653/a if 2nd indicator is 0 655/x |
| Geographic Coverage (gc, gc=) | Name-geographic | 58 | 1,2 | 042/a** 651/a,z 600/z 610/z 611/z 630/z 648/z 650/z 653/a if 2nd indicator is 5 654/z 655/z |
| Genre/Form (ge, ge=) | OCLC Defined | 5655 | 1,2 | 655/a,b,v 600/v 610/v 611/v 630/v 648/v 650/v 651/v 653/a if 2nd indicator is 6 654/v |
| Named Person (na, na=)*** | Subject-name-personal | 1009 | 1,2 | 600/a,b,c,d,j,q 653/a if 2nd indicator is 1 |
| Named Conference and Corporation (nc, nc=) | OCLC Defined | 5610 | 1,2 | 610/a,b,c,d,n,p 611/a,c,d,e,n,p,q 653/a if 2nd indicator is 2 or 3 |
| Subject All (sa=) | OCLC Defined | 5090 | 1 | 600/a,b,c,d,e,g,j,k,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,v,x,y,z 610/a,b,c,d,e,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v,x,y,z 611/a,c,d,e,g,k,n,p,q,t,v,x,y,z 630/a,d,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v,x,y,z 648/a,v,x,y,z 650/a,b,v,x,y,z 651/a,v,x,y,z 653/a 654/a,b,v,x,y,z 655/a,b,v,x,y,z |
| ** 042/a is indexed as the English terms represented by the codes. *** The first comma is retained as part of the search for this index only. Notes for all the subject phrase indexes Each portion of the subject heading (e.g., subheading in 650/a,x,y,z) will be handled as a distinct phrase search. The suggested strategy in searching for records that contain those subheadings is to and those terms together. Example: 650 ‡a Nuclear Power Plants ‡x Safety Measures is searched by entering: nuclear power plants and safety measures. The one exception to this is the Subject All index (use attribute 5090) For that index the above term would be searched as "nuclear power plants safety measures". | ||||
Title Searches
| Index | Description | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | Indexed Fields and Subfields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title keyword (ti) | Title | 4 5245 1002 | 2 | 031/d 100/t 110/t 111/t 130/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 210/a 214/a 222/a,b 240/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s 242/a,b,n,p 243/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s 245/a,b,f,g,k,n,p 246/a,b,n,p 247/a,b,n,p 440/a,n,p 490/a 505/t 700/g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 710/d,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 711/g,k,n,p,s,t 730/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 740/a,n,p 770/a,s,t 773/p,s,t 780/s,t 785/s,t 787/s,t 800/g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 810/d,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 811/g,k,n,p,s,t 830/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v |
| Title (ti=) | Title | 4 1002 | 1 | 130/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 222/a,b 240/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s 245/a,b,f,g,k,n,p* 246/a,b,n,p 505/t 730/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 740/a,n,p |
| Series (se, se=) | Title-series | 5 | 1, 2 | 440/a,n,p,v,x 490/a,v,x 533/f 534/f 760/a,s,t,x,y 762/a,s,t,x,y 800/a,b,c,d,e,g,k,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,v 810/a,b,c,d,e,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v 811/a,c,d,e,g,k,n,p,s,t,v 830/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,v |
| Uniform Title (ut, ut=) | Title-uniform | 6 | 1, 2 | 130/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t 240/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s 243/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s 700/g,k,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t 710/d,g,k,m,n,p,o,r,s,t 711/d,g,k,n,p,s,t 730/a,d,f,g,k,m,n,o,p,r,s,t |
| * The Title phrase search has the 245/a and 245/b subfields combined into a single phrase search with structure attribute 1. These subfields (245/a, 245/b) can be searched as separate subfields also. | ||||
Classification Numbers and Specific Searches*
| Index | Description | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | Indexed Fields and Subfields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Number (sn) | Identifier-standard | 1007 | 1,2 | 010/a,b,z 015/a,z 016/a,z 020/a,z 022/a,l,m,y,z 024/a,z 027/a,z 028/a 030/a,z 037/a 088/a 262/c 440/x 490/x 534/o,x,z 700/x 710/x 711/x 730/x 760/x,y,z 762/x,y,z 770/r,u,x,y,z 773/u,x,y,z 776/x,y,z 780/x,y,z 785/x,y,z 800/x 810/x 811/x 830/x |
| ISSN (ns) | Identifier-ISSN | 8 | 1,2 | 022/a,y,z |
| ISBN (nb) | Identifier-ISBN | 7 | 1,2 | 020/a,z |
| LCCN (nl) | Control number-LC | 9 | 1 | 010/a,z |
| * All searches in the above table (Classification Numbers and Specific Searches) are explained further in the Searching Tips, in the Call Number Indexes and Known Item Searches sub-sections (see below). | ||||
Restrictors*
The following restrictors should be combined with search strings in WorldCat (using the Boolean operators AND or NOT) in cases where the search results would otherwise be too large and unmanageable.
| Restrictor | Type | Input | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | MARC Tag | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year (yr) | All years Single year Range of years | — 1999, or 2000 -1899 1955-1967 1998- | 31 | 5 | 008 <date1> 046/c | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Library group (cg) | No. of Libraries with holdings
Predefined ranges
| Input
Input
| 5848 | 2 | 947/m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Library Holdings (li) | all Library Symbol | — xxx (OCLC symbol for the library)** | 56 1044 | 2 | 948/h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * All restrictors are discussed in the searching tips. ** To find the OCLC symbol for an institution, please see the online version of Find an OCLC Library . | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sorting
Search results in the WorldCat database can be sorted by Author (1003) and Title (4).
General punctuation rules
Omit accent marks and diacritics such as ¨ (umlaut) and ¸ (cedilla). Special characters should be replaced by a Romanized form of the character, such as u for hooked u and ss for ß (eszett).
| Punctuation | Rule | Punctuation | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| " (quote mark) | Convert to a blank | @ (commercial at) | Convert to a blank |
| ' (apostrophe) | Indexed both as: — delete and collapse — convert to a blank | ? (question mark) | Convert to a blank |
| . (period) | Convert to a blank, except when the first period in a class number search. | / (slash) | Convert to a blank except in Dewey call number search where it is deleted and collapsed. |
| , (comma) | Convert to a blank. | - (hyphen) | Convert to a blank |
| ; (semicolon) | Convert to a blank | & (ampersand) | Retain and index |
| : (colon) | Convert to a blank | \ (backslash) | Convert to a blank |
| () (parentheses) | Delete and collapse | © (copyright sign) | Delete and collapse |
| <> (greater/less than signs) | Convert to a blank | ° (degree sign) | Delete and collapse |
| {} (curly brackets) | Convert to a blank | € (Euro) | Convert to a blank |
| [] (square brackets) | Delete and collapse, retaining the data within except for [sic] and [i.e. any data following] | Flat (musical) | Convert to a blank |
| = (equal sign) | Convert to a blank | ¡ (inverted exclamation point) | Convert to a blank |
| ! (exclamation point) | Convert to a blank | ¿ (inverted question mark) | Convert to a blank |
| # (number sign) | Delete and collapse | Phonograph copyright | Delete and collapse |
| $ (dollar sign) | Convert to a blank | # (sharp — musical) | Convert to a blank |
| % (percent sign) | Convert to a blank | Space | Convert multiple spaces to a single space |
| * (asterisk) | Convert to a blank | ± (plus/minus sign) | Convert to a blank |
| + (plus sign) | Convert to a blank | _ (underscore) | Convert to a blank |
Stopwords
| a | an | and | are | as | at | be | but | by | for | from |
| had | have | he | her | his | in | is | it | not | of | on |
| or | that | the | this | to | was | which | with | you |
Phrase indexes have no stopwords.
Some indexes will have exceptions to the list of stopwords. These differences are:
- Author, Corporate and Conference Name, and Personal Names have no stopwords.
- Place of Publication, Subjects, Geographic Coverage will not have the following stopwords: an, as, at, be, by, if, in, is, it, on, or, so, to.
- Access Method has the stopwords above as well as http and https as stopwords.
Searching tips
Keyword search
The Keyword index for WorldCat uses attribute number 1016. The Keyword search finds information in the author, title, subject, notes, ISBN, year, year 2 and a few fields specific to the keyword search (034/a,b,d,e,f,g, 052/a,b, 255/a,b,c,d,e).
The Year data is indexed exactly as those indexes index the 008 data (see below). The ISBN is indexed as the data is indexed, without hyphens. However, any keyword search term that meets the characteristics of an ISBN and is entered with hyphens will be automatically concatenated by the search processor.
A geographic field found only in the keyword indexes is 052/a,b. This is a field useful to map catalogers. The 052/a field is indexed alone. Any records containing 052/b also indexes as 052/a concatenated together with 052/b without spaces, as a single word. So, a record with 052 #a 1234 #b P4 #b C2 is searchable as 1234, 1234p4, and 1234c2.
Subject Indexes
The Subject searches have many options. The types of data have been broken down to allow specific searches, such as Geographic Coverage (58) and Genre/form (5655), Named Person (1009), Named Corporation (5610) and Named Conference (5611). The Descriptor search (5650) includes only topical information.
Library Holdings Group
The library holdings group (use attribute 5848) limits a search by the most widely held items. Try using a rangeable search, such as 08, which would include all items held by 100 libraries or more. Different types of material will have different high-end levels for searching. If you searching for highly technical material, 50 libraries holding the item would be a large number. However, serial records and very popular works can be found in the rare "most held" group31.
Access Method/Internet Resources
The most direct search of internet resources is the Access Method search (use 5856) which searches the URLs in some WorldCat records. The characters between the puncuation in the URL are the "words" that are searched for. For example, http://www.oclc.org is searched by the "words" www, oclc, and org. The most distinict term in the string is the most useful on which to search. All the stopwords apply to this index, plus two additional stopwords, "http" and "https".
Known number indexes
ISBNs (use 7) remove and concatenate all punctuation including hyphens. However, a search can be entered with hyphens and get the appropriate ISBN records. Consider searching the ISBN using the Standard Number index (use 1007) instead of the ISBN only (use 7) index. The index with use 7 includes only data found in the 022 field, while the ISBNs for the electronic item are sometimes included in the 776/z field which is indexed with Standard Number (use 1007). To have all ISBNs included in the index use the Standard Number index. For both of these indexes, ISBNs can be successfully searched with or without hyphens.
LCCN or Library of Congress Control Numbers (use 9) have the numbers indexed without the hyphen. A user can search with the hyphen added or with the zero fill characters that is also used to store the number. So for example, sn92-1234 is indexed as sn921234 and 921234 and can be searched as 92-1234 or 92001234 or sn92-1234 or sn92001234.
The standard number index (use 1007) has ISBNs, ISSNs, LCCNs, and many other standard numbers. For all of these, all punctuation is removed and concatenated. For the LCCNs, only the stored number with the zeros is retained. Further, if there is an alphabetic prefix with three letters it is attached to the number. If there is an alphabetic prefix of one or two letters, it is not attached.
Update Index
The update index (1012) gives the date on the MARC record as the date last updated in the OCLC WorldCat Cataloging System in the format YYYYMMDD. Since FirstSearch is a day or two behind the cataloging system, please take that into account. So, if a user searched on August 31, 2000 and wanted to retrieve only new or changed records a month later (October 1, 2000) the user would AND the previous search with the update index using "200009*". However, while this would retrieve all of September, to be complete the search "2000083*" would also need to be included.
Copyright
Copyright © 1978-2008 <!--ATTN T-SYSTEMS: Sprinkle, asset ID 28885-->2012<!-- // T-SYSTEMS--> OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
OCLC staff occasionally hears from librarians who want to use Z39.50 access to the WorldCat database on the OCLC FirstSearch service for cataloging purposes. While use of Z39.50 for cataloging is available, only a cataloging authorization number can be used to catalog with Z39.50 access within the services agreements. OCLC does provide an extensive range of cataloging and metadata services for libraries, including Web and Z39.50 interfaces for cataloging.