THE DREAM ABOUT EXTENDED ABSTRACTS OF DISSERTATIONS: Being an Essay on the Origin of the Present Volume

Abstract

Once in a while a dream comes true-a dream that starts out as a vivid, exciting challenge and refuses to die.

The first dream source began in the late 1940's when I first discovered Dissertation Abstracts (wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/), published by the University of Michigan What a wealth of information! These abstracts immediately became (and have since remained) one of my favorite sources for research on any topic (with now more than 1.6 million titles). They assumed an importance that previously had been reserved for the various indices to periodical literature which scholars had developed. Although subsequent publications in refereed journals would contain much more detail than would be permitted in the abstracts, they would tell me whether or not it was worthwhile to obtain the entire dissertation. Rarely was I disappointed when I took the time to get the entire dissertation. Their bibliographies and reviews of literature were occasionally amateurish, but always informative. Through the 1950s and 1960s dissertations were considered by me to be the most underused research resources available anywhere, and they probably still are. The Inter-library loan system facilitated their use. Frequently the abstracts led to personal correspondence with the authors. Networking using regular mail and telephones was greatly stimulated.