Technical Services Procedures

Ordering and Receiving Materials - Student Procedures : Processing MSU Theses

Page Editor: Kim Wiljanen
Last Updated: May 8, 2006

The Library Acquisitions Department receives shipments of theses and dissertations from the M.S.U. Graduate School several times a year. While there is no definite pattern to the delivery of thesis materials, the Graduate School generally ships a few large shipments which correspond roughly to the pattern of academic semesters, as well as several smaller shipments sent periodically throughout the course of the year.

A hardbound copy and microfiche copy should be received for each individual submitting a thesis or dissertation, but these will not always be received at the same time. The packing lists are also sent separately from the thesis materials. There are separate packing lists for hardbound and microfiche formats. Additionally, each packing list contains separate categories for Master's and Ph.D. candidates.

Unpacking the Thesis Materials

It is probably easiest to open boxes of books separately from boxes of fiche. You will need to locate all the available packing lists for the format you are opening before you begin checking off the items received, since there will frequently be two or three packing lists and several boxes of each format, but a single list will not necessarily correspond perfectly with a particular shipment of materials. Once you are finished, you should have a fully checked-off packing list, and every thesis item received will have a corresponding packing list entry. If there are any names on the packing list for which a thesis item has not been received, or if there are any thesis items which do not have corresponding entries on the packing list, let the student supervisor know. Otherwise, write "all received," your initials, and today's date at the top of each packing list. Note: As you unpack the theses, check to see if there any of the books have accompanying CD's, video- or audiocassette tapes, or other types of accompanying materials. If so, insert a "supplementary material" streamer into the book, and pink-tie or rubber band the supplementary material to the book if needed in order to keep them together.

Thesis books should then be alphabetized by the author's last name, interfiling the names of M.A. and Ph.D. candidates from all of the hardbound packing lists you checked off. Place the books on a book truck, loading books onto one side of the truck at a time, starting from the top shelf and working down, loading each shelf from left to right. Tattle tape all of the thesis books, taking care to keep them in alphabetical order. Microfiche should also be alphabetized by the author's last name, interfiling the names of M.A. and Ph.D. candidates from all of the microfiche packing lists. The microfiche may be placed into a small-sized box. See the student supervisor if you cannot find a box of the appropriate size.

Preparing thesis materials for delivery to the Cataloging Department

Pull the first thesis book from the truck and find the corresponding microfiche copy. Using a black ink pad, stamp the upper left-hand corner of the inside front cover of the book with the "THESIS" stamp. On the corresponding microfiche copy, note the number of fiches listed in the upper right-hand corner of the microfiche header (the strip of printed material appearing across the top of the fiche). Check to be sure that the number of fiches actually matches the number indicated on the fiche header; then, pencil in the number of fiches underneath the thesis stamp. Report any problems (e.g., missing or mis-numbered fiche(s), incorrect totals on the fiche header, etc.) to the student supervisor.

Next, look at the lower left-hand corner of the microfiche header to find the UMI® date (University Microfilms International trademark date). Pencil the UMI® date from the microfiche underneath the number of fiches you wrote on the front inside cover of the thesis book. (NOTE: Some microfiches also contain a copyright date (e.g., ©2002) at the top of the header. Ignore this date; the important date for cataloging purposes is the UMI® date in the lower left-hand corner of the header.)

Carefully compare the author's name as it appears on the title page of the thesis book and the microfiche header. The names should match exactly, with the exception that the author's last name appears first on the fiche copy in capital letters, while the author's first name appears first on the title page of the book, and the last name appears in upper- and lower-case letters. Apart from this difference in format, the names should be identical. Minor differences in punctuation may be ignored (e.g., the presence or absence of a hyphen or comma), but all other differences indicate a problem. If there is a discrepancy between the author's name as it appears in the book and fiche formats, insert the fiche copy in the corresponding book and set it aside as a problem. If the author's name matches identically in the book and fiche formats, put the book back on the truck and place the fiche in a separate stack. Bring any serious problems (e.g., typographical errors or variations in spelling or format of the author's name, glaring typographical errors in the title of the thesis, etc.), or any questions you may have to the attention of the student supervisor.

When you are completely done processing the shipment of thesis materials, you should have a batch of books on the truck which matched their corresponding fiche copies exactly, a separate stack of microfiches which matched their corresponding book copies exactly, and a batch of problem thesis books accompanied by their corresponding fiche copies. If there were any books or microfiches which were lacking their corresponding format copy, bring them to the student supervisor at this time.

Pull the microfiches from the problem books and photocopy the fiche headers. The fiches may be lined up vertically a few to a page for photocopying purposes. Check to make sure the photocopies are legible. Then, cut the photocopied pages into strips corresponding to the problem fiche headers copied. Match the photocopied strips back to their corresponding books, inserting them at the title page so they are visible at the top edge of the book when it is closed. Important: Take the time at this point to double-check that you are putting the correct photocopied strip in each book. When you are done, interfile the problem microfiches into the stack of fiches that were already pulled from the rest of the shipment.

With a pink tie or large rubber band, bind the stack of microfiches together and deliver them to the microcopy shelf in the Database Management processing room (W129). Load the problem books with their corresponding microfiche copies onto the truck with the other books and take the truck to the thesis area of the Cataloging and Metadata Services (CMS) team