[Post by Sarah Wenzel]
At the April meeting of the MLAIB advisory board, which consists of three librarians and three faculty members, the board was asked to consider the place of dissertations in the MLAIB. The board meets again on 7-8 October and would welcome your thoughts on the issue.
The current situation :
– MLAIB does not include unpublished dissertations
– MLAIB indexes Dissertations Abstracts International (DAI), which is a published source
– DAI has lacunae, particularly for non-US dissertations
Philosophical questions :
– Might a dissertation be considered the equivalent of “published,” as it must be certified by an institution?
– Is DAI a sufficient source?
Practical questions
– Would the MLAIB include dissertations in institutional repositories?
o Only if asked, dissertation by dissertation?
o If a feed could be arranged (esp. for national repositories)?
– Can existing MLAIB data model and descriptive metadata be used?
What are your thoughts on the matter?
FYI : A sample dissertation from DAI indexed in the MLA (exact display will vary depending on interface) :
Document author : Delogu, Daisy Jeanne
Title : Royal Biography and the Politics of the Hundred Years War: Theorizing the Ideal Sovereign
Publication details : Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences (64:4) pp. 1248, 2003 Oct
ISSN : 0419-4209
Dissertation number : DA3087391
Subject
Specific literature : English literature
Subject language : French language literature
Time period : 1100-1499 Middle English period
Subject author : Chandos Herald (fl. 1350-1380)
Subject work : La Vie du Prince Noir
Other term : poetry
Literary theme : (treatment of) ruler
Literary theme : (relationship to) political power
Subject author : (compared to) Hugues Capet
Subject author : Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)
Subject work : La Prise d’Alexandrie
Subject author : Christine de Pisan (1365-1430)
Subject work : Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V
Specific literature : French literature
Time period : 400-1499 Medieval period
Subject author : Hugues Capet
Literary theme : (treatment of) ruler
Literary theme : (relationship to) political power
Subject author : (compared to) Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)
Subject work : La Prise d’Alexandrie
Subject author : Christine de Pisan (1365-1430)
Subject work : Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V
Subject author : Chandos Herald (fl. 1350-1380)
Subject work : La Vie du Prince Noir
Language of publication : English
Publication year : 2003
Publication type : Dissertation Abstract
Sequence number : 2004-1-848–2004-2-669
Update : 200401
Resource location : http://gateway.proquest.com.proxy.uchicago.edu/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3087391
Issue : 4
School : U of Pennsylvania