ABSTRACT
Once a dissertation or thesis is completed and the degree granted, how do others know it exists? Libraries have a long history of housing and cataloging the intellectual output of the graduate degree process. Catalogers have worked in online environments since the early 1970s, first sharing cataloging records, then placing them into online databases using standards for input such as the MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) format, Dublin Core, and Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). The transition from drawers of printed catalog cards to online databases is part of an evolutionary process of information retrieval based upon existing library practices.
