Dissertations, theses and group research projects in Social Welfare

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UC Berkeley dissertations and theses		Subject searching -- social work indexes
School of Social Welfare disserations, theses and group research projects		African-American theses & dissertations
Author & title searching		Browsing by call number
Subject searching -- general information		How to get a dissertation, thesis or group project
Subject searching -- Melvyl & Pathfinder		UC Berkeley dissertations
Subject searching -- dissertations index		Dissertations from other institutions

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UC Berkeley dissertations and theses

The UC Berkeley library system has at least one copy of every doctoral dissertation filed on campus. One archival copy is cataloged and shelved in the Main (Doe-Moffitt) Library. A duplicate copy is shelved at the subject speciality library associated with the respective discipline. Many subject specialty libraries also have masters’ theses, professional papers, and other such works in their respective subject areas.

School of Social Welfare disserations, theses and group research projects

The Social Welfare Library has copies of dissertations, theses, and group research projects produced in the School of Social Welfare since its establishment in 1944. Theses were submitted for masters degrees beginning in 1946. From 1948 until the early 1970s, group research projects – by groups of students under the supervision of a faculty member – were an alternative to individual masters theses. Beginning in 1960, dissertations were submitted for the DSW in social welfare, and after 1988 for the PhD.

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Author & title searching

All dissertations and theses may be searched by either author or title as if they were regular books. Author searches will also find any student who co-authored a group research project, as well as the faculty member under whose supervision it was prepared. You can use either Pathfinder or Melvyl to do an author or title search.  Pathfinder is the UCB-only catalog; use it if you are not interested in dissertations or theses filed at other UCs. Pathfinder also allows you to search by library location. For instance, you can limit your search to titles in the Social Welfare Library only. 

Melvyl will retrieve titles from all UC campuses. When doing author or title searches, be sure to limit your search by format to "Dissertations" or you will also retrieve books. You can also limit your search by campus. You cannot limit your search by library location in Melvyl.

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Subject searching -- general information

There is no best way to search for dissertations by subject. You can search using either the books catalogs, Melvyl and Pathfinder; a national index for dissertations (Digital Dissertations); an index for recent UC Berkeley dissertations (Current Research @); or social work journal indexes that also contain listings for social work dissertations. Each method has advantages and disadvantages.

Search tool	Advantages	Disadvantages
Melvyl	Contains masters theses and group research projects, as well as dissertations Can limit searches by campus Can limit by discipline or date Can make online requests to borrow dissertations from other campuses.	Can do key word title searches only. Can't do true subject searching. Will not retrieve works on your topic unless the key words appear in the title. Doesn't allow searches of dissertation abstracts. Covers UC campuses only.
Pathfinder	Same as Melvyl Can limit searches to campus library.	Same as Melvyl Covers UC Berkeley only
Digital Dissertations	National database listing dissertations back to 1861 Can search subject descriptors and abstracts Allows previews of pages Allows you to purchase a print or electronic copy	Does not include UCB masters' theses or group research projects Many records don't contain abstracts
Current Research @	Searches key words in title and abstract Allows previews of pages Can download many titles	Does not include UCB masters' theses or group research projects Contains only dissertations filed 1996- Limited to UC Berkeley dissertations
Social Work Abstracts or Social Services Abstracts	Searches key words in title, abstract, and subject descriptors National scope Focuses primarily on social work dissertations	Does not include UCB masters' theses or group research projects Some records don't contain abstracts Social Work Abstracts coverage begins 1977 Social Services Abstracts coverage begins 1980 Not comprehensive; does not include all dissertations filed nationally

Subject searching -- Melvyl and Pathfinder

Dissertations, theses and group projects are given a generic subject classification in the UC catalogs. This is usually in one of two forms: "Dissertations, Academic -- UCB – [discipline] -- [decade]" -- for example, "Dissertations, Academic -- UCB -- Social Welfare – 1981-1990"; or "University of California, Berkeley -- [discipline] -- Dissertations." These works usually do not receive any other subject classification, which means you cannot do a regular subject search as you would for books.

In Melvyl, dissertations and masters' theses are cataloged under the format "Dissertations." The cataloging format for UCB social welfare group research projects is also "Dissertations." (The format in Pathfinder is "Manuscripts," but this designator covers works other than dissertations.)

Subject searching in the books catalogs requires you to do a key word search among titles and limit your search to dissertations. While this is not a true subject search, it is useful because the titles of most dissertations will generally include key words that describe the content. You can limit your search to social welfare dissertations by adding a subject search for "social welfare." You can also limit your search by date or location.

Melvyl searches:

1. Open a new window to the Melvyl catalog advanced search.
2. Enter a few key words in the first search field and select "Title" for the search type.
3. To limit your search to dissertations, select "dissertations" in the "Format" field 
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   type dissertations in the second search field and choose "Subject" for the search type.
4. To limit your search to social welfare dissertations, type dissertations social welfare in the second search field and choose "Subject" for the search type.
5. Choose "UC Berkeley" in the "Library" field to search for UCB dissertations.  To find dissertations not all UC campuses, choose "All libraries."
6. To see whether a retrieved item is a dissertation, thesis, or group project, click on "Full record" and look at the "Notes" field. The faculty advisor for group projects will also be listed there.

Pathfinder searches:

1. Open a new window to the Pathfinder catalog and select "Advanced Search."
2. Enter a few key words in the first search field and select "Title keyword(s)" for the search type.
3. To limit your search to dissertations, type dissertations in the second search field and choose "Subject keyword(s)" for the search type. (Note: Pathfinder doesn't allow you to limit by the format type "Dissertations.")
4. To limit your search to social welfare dissertations, type dissertations social welfare in the second search field and choose "Subject keyword(s)" for the search type.
5. You can limit your search to a particular library in the "Limit by Location" selection.
6. To see whether a retrieved item is a dissertation, thesis, or group project, click on the title and look at the "Notes" field. The faculty advisor for group projects will also be listed there.

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Subject searching -- dissertations index

Use Digital Dissertations to connect with the on-line Dissertations Abstracts International. You can use this resource to identify dissertations filed across the US. To limit to UC Berkeley dissertations, choose "School" under the "Choose a field" box on the second line and type Berkeley in the blank.

Subject searching -- social work indexes

Social Work Abstracts are primarily for social work journal articles, but you can also limit your search to dissertations only. To do this, in the search blank enter (1000 in cc or dissertation*) and [key words]. For example, (1000 in cc or dissertation*) and social workers and ethics. To limit to Berkeley, add and (berkeley in da) to your search terms ("da" means "dissertation affiliation"). For example, (1000 in cc or dissertation*) and social workers and ethics and (berkeley in da).

Social Services Abstracts is another social work article database that also includes dissertations.  Click the "Advanced search" tab, then select "Publication type (PT= )" as a search category and type dissertation in the blank.  Then enter your search keywords in a second blank. (Note: the search results will give you only abstracts of the dissertations, not the full text. The abstracts are published in a journal called Dissertation Abstracts International. Clicking "UC-eLinks" from the search results page will not show you whether a particular dissertation is held by UC, but it will show you where the print version of Dissertation Abstracts International is shelved on campus.)

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Browsing by call number

All dissertations, masters' theses, and group projects in the Social Welfare Library begin with the following call numbers:

Group projects:	HV13.A132
Master’s theses:	HV13.A135
Dissertations:	HV13.A14

The third element of each call number is the date submitted. For example, HV13.A132.1956 A542 identifies a group project thesis submitted in 1956. (The fourth element, "A542," identifies the main author, Mary Ahern.)

You can do a "virtual browse" of the shelves in the Social Welfare Library with a call number search. This will retrieve volumes as they would be found on the shelf in call number order.

This bibliography lists 600 theses and dissertations on African American topics completed at UC Berkeley between 1907 and 2002. Users can browse by author or department, or search the bibliography.

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How to get a dissertation, thesis or group project

UC Berkeley dissertations
UC Berkeley dissertations may be paged at the library indicated in the catalog and are generally for library use only. All social work dissertations, theses and group projects may be paged at the Social Welfare Library circulation desk. When paging, be sure to give us the name of the author. In addition, the complete text of many dissertations published since 1996 are available for downloading at Current Research @. A guide to using Current Research@ is also available.  Many theses and group papers are housed in the off-campus Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF).  You may request NRLF items for use in the library (allow two working days for delivery) or you may go there directly.

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Dissertations from other institutions
Use  Digital Dissertations or the Social Work Abstracts to locate dissertations from other schools. Non-UCB dissertations may be purchased in either print, microfilm, or downloadable file format via Digital Dissertations.

You may also request disserations from other institutions through the Library’s Interlibrary Borrowing Service department. If you can find the dissertation in Melvyl, click on the "Request" button when displaying your search results. Otherwise, ask at the Social Welfare Library circulation desk for a dissertation/thesis request form, which you may submit at the desk. 

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