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Theses & Dissertations

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Finding Theses on the Website

The theses and dissertations are under the "Research" location on the catalogue. Using the  advanced search link, enter your search term as normal, and select "Research" from the Location box. Click submit.

When you do a search on Eolas, you can refine it on the left by clicking on the box  "IT, Sligo Research" (if there are any hits for it).

 Note the author, type of award, year and barcode. If it is one of the older dissertations, it may be bound with its barcode on the spine. Otherwise, note the year and author/volume.

 

There are a few things to remember when searching:

  1. As the award that was previously a Diploma is now a Pass degree (Level 7) and the degree is now an Hons degree (Level 8), what people are looking for might seem out of synch. When you search the catalogue, notice that the Hons degrees only go back a few years. For previous years, look at the degrees.

  2. Also some awards have changed name over the years, especially the Quality Management/Assurance, etc. It’s basically the same course – it doesn’t mean we only have two years of any of them.

  3. Most dissertations submitted now are already bound, so they are individual items.

  4. Since 2013, by request of the lecturers, we only accept any over the 70% mark to maintain quality.

Finding Theses in the Library

The Research collection is in the Quiet Zone (top floor) to the right of the stairs. The postgraduate degrees are shelved by author, firstly the Ph.D.s, then the Masters. The taught and research Masters are shelved separately, the research Masters having a red label marked RES to distinguish them. It is also written on the front page.

The undergraduate degrees and diplomas are then shelved by school. The schools were distinguished by colour when we bound them (green for Engineering, blue for Arts and Humanities, red for Science). The older degree dissertations are shelved by barcode (bound), then year and author/volume no. followed by the Diploma dissertations shelved by barcode, then year and author/ volume no.

Any of the newer dissertations bound in volumes are done alphabetically by author and the author names are on the front, e.g. Kelly – May. The volume nos are on the spine, so vol 1 would have A to H roughly. Most recent dissertations are bound individually.

Sligo Quiet Zone map

Dissertation/thesis submission

Supervisors are now responsible for checking dissertations/theses for any GDPR issues before depositing them with the library. A few things to watch out for are:

  • Named or identified interviewees or companies that have been assured anonymity, especially in interview transcripts.
  • Headers/footers  and appendices containing student personal addresses or emails, especially in letters accompanying surveys.
  • Also make us aware if there is a restriction agreement with the company, even if there is a confidentiality statement in the thesis, as restricted access may not be ticked in the submission form.

Theses submission procedures

Check you have:

  • the bound print thesis
  • the searchable pdf on a USB (it must be the final version and it should not be password protected or compressed).  
  • the submission form signed by the student and supervisor (remember that the undergraduate dissertations are only accessible by current staff and students). Please indicate whether you want restricted access or not. If it is restricted, it should be handed directly to the Assistant Librarian, Bibliographic Services. 

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