The Plural of Thesis is . . .

June 18, 2013 Posted by: Jessica Gerdes, Librarian

The Yellowstone Research Library collects items that pertain to all aspects of Yellowstone, whether it's birds, bison, stones, or geysers. Types of items in the collection include books as well as articles and audio/visual materials. The books can be broken down into different types including textbooks, regular reading books, rare items, oversized, and theses. There are hundreds of people who, throughout the years, have been fascinated enough by Yellowstone to write their Masters of Arts, Master of Sciences, and even their PhD dissertations on all of the various aspects of the park.

There are nearly 900 different theses spanning the years 1910-2013. The earliest is by Albert Bartlett who wrote "Description of the Surveys of Portions of the South and East Boundaries of the Yellowstone National Park" which the University of Missouri has made freely available online, if you're in the mood for a scintillating read. Albert was a fascinating person. Born in 1885 in Wyoming (where he died in 1980), he earned his master's in mining engineering, formed an Engineering Company in Cheyenne and served as Assistant State Engineer, Deputy State Engineer, and State Geologist in Wyoming.

We are lucky to have theses and dissertations from many other fascinating and illustrious people. Most of these items are donated to us by the authors, but sometimes we have to purchase them from ProQuest or from the schools where the work was done.

Theses and dissertations collection, Yellowstone Research Library, 2013.

If you are curious about whether your thesis is already in the Yellowstone Research Library, check out our library catalog at http://wyld.state.wy.us/yrl. To contact librarians if you are interested in donating your thesis or dissertation, please email us.

library, collections, theses