Section D. Dissertations.
Definite statements with regard to collections of theses
and dissertations have at present to be limited, since in a number
of libraries such material is not distinguished from the
regular collections of books and pamphlets. There are indications,
however, that the recent tendency towards publication of
annual volumes of abstracts and the increasing demand for the
inter-library loan of local theses and dissertations is drawing
attention to the need of a more effective handling of this
material. In several college libraries a start has been made by
the segregation of theses and dissertations prepared by members
of the local faculty. Somewhat more extensive collections may
be found at the University of Richmond, at the Union Theological
Seminary, at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and at Washington
and Lee University; and there is a special set of about 100
Dutch theses on marine insurance and marine law at the library
of the Mariners' Museum. The largest collection is at the University
of Virginia, and its availability is being increased by
the recent adoption of a special method of handling all pamphlet
material. Annual volumes of abstracts of dissertations are
being issued at the University of Virginia under the supervision
of Mr. John Cook Wyllie, a member of the library staff; and he
has also prepared, in connection with annual volumes of Publications
and Research, printed and numbered lists of all University
of Virginia theses and dissertations from their beginning. Many
of the Virginia libraries have on file the general bibliographies
of American theses, but foreign bibliographies on this subject
are woefully lacking.
