This guide outlines methods for locating in the CSM Library master's theses and doctoral dissertations written at the Colorado School of Mines.  CSM theses and dissertations are located in an area of the Library that is closed to the public.  CSM students, faculty and staff should  contact Circulation to request access to a CSM thesis or dissertation.  Patrons outside of CSM should contact Document Delivery to purchase a CSM dissertation or thesis.

• CSM Faculty/Staff/Students: To access a CSM thesis or dissertation, contact Circulation.
• Patrons outside of CSM: Contact Document Delivery to purchase a CSM dissertation or thesis.

The Library owns only a few master's theses or doctoral dissertations completed by students at other institutions. Those that are available can be found in Catalyst. The primary tool for identifying most U.S. theses or dissertations, as well as some written at Canadian, British, and other European institutions, is Dissertation Abstracts. It provides abstracts for each dissertation indexed since 1980; abstracts are provided for theses indexed since 1988. Access to Dissertation Abstracts is restricted to current CSM students, faculty, and staff.

The Library's Document Delivery Section borrows, for CSM faculty and graduate students, copies of dissertations from most American and some foreign universities. For further information about borrowing dissertations from other institutions, contact Document Delivery.

You can use the Library's online catalog, Catalyst, to search for CSM Theses or Dissertations by author, title, or department.  To do so, go to the Basic Search screen in Catalyst and follow theses steps:

• In the Search by: field select Author Browse
• Select CSM Theses in the Quick Location limit drop-down.
• In the Search for: box enter the author's last name followed by the first name or first initials (e.g., einstein a)
• Click on the Search button

• In the Search by: drop-down menu select Title Browse
• Select CSM Theses in the Quick Location limit drop-down.
• In the Search for: box type in the first few words of the title (omit any beginning articles (A, An, The, etc.)
• Click on the Search button

• In the Search by: drop-down menu select Keyword (Relevance)
• Select CSM Theses in the Quick Location limit drop-down.
• In the Search for: box enter the department's name or part of the name (e.g., geology, chemistry, materials)
• Click on the Search button

After you click on the Search button, Catalyst will retrieve either a title list of all theses and dissertations in the Library that match your search criteria, or will retrieve a single bibliographic record for the thesis or dissertation.

Theses and dissertations can be checked out by any registered Library patron at the Circulation Desk by providing a staff member with the item's call number.  Check out periods vary according to patron status.