A doctoral dissertation is a paper written as part of the requirements to earn a doctoral degree such as a Ph.D or Ed.D. Dissertations generally address a research question that no one has investigated and published about before, and they are generally subject to a "defense" before a committee of experts at the school before considered complete.
A master's thesis is a paper written as part of the requirements to earn a master's degree. Thesis papers may take a variety of forms, but most typically may represent a thorough mastery and novel synthesis of the published literature and available knowledge on a topic.
Many dissertations and theses are available at Murphy Library as summarized here. Copies of those unavailable at Murphy Library can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan (ILL; use the Dissertation/Thesis Request form). Dissertations are more likely to be available through ILL than master's theses.
Many UWL graduate student theses and other papers are available, either online or in print. Print copies are listed in the Murphy Library Catalog; digital copies are included in the Digital Collections at UW System Libraries.
Master's Theses by UWL graduate students are available online in the UW-L Master's Theses collection in MINDS@UW (when authors have granted permission).
Print copies (1958- ) are kept in Special Collections, shelved at the call number: WT
Circulating copies (1958-2013) can be found in the second floor stacks, shelved at the call number: WT
Action Learning / Graduate Projects by UWL graduate students are available online in the UW-L Master's Theses collection in MINDS@UW (when authors have granted permission).
Print copies (1979-2009) are kept in Special Collections, shelved at the call number: WX
Circulating copies (1979-2008) can be found in the second floor stacks, shelved at the call number: WX
Seminar Papers by UWL graduate students are available online in the UW-L Seminar Papers collection in MINDS@UW (when authors have granted permission).
Print copies (1957-2010) are kept in Special Collections, shelved at the call number: WS
Software Engineering Manuscripts by UWL graduate students are available online in the UW-L Manuscripts (Software Engineering) collection in MINDS@UW (when authors have granted permission).
Learning Community Project Summaries by UWL graduate students (MEPD program, 2000-2001) can be found in Special Collections, shelved at the call number: WY
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Some copies of dissertations and theses that were written by students at other schools are available at the library. These are listed in the Murphy Library Catalog.
Our holdings include thousands of theses and dissertations published on microfiche by University of Oregon Microform Publications, later known as Oregon Microform Publications in Sport and Human Performance, and now known as OregonPDF in Health & Performance.