Since 2009, graduate students at Minnesota State University, Mankato have the option to make their theses, dissertations and other capstone projects available digitally. These works are available through Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works, the Institutional Repository for Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) collection in Cornerstone is called Theses, Dissertations and Other Capstone Projects and is organized by year.
To access Theses, Dissertations and Other Capstone Projects, visit https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/theses_dissertations-capstone/
The collection is set up so that you can quickly browse by type: Alternative Plan Papers (APP), Dissertations, Other Capstone Projects, or Theses OR look at all of the theses, dissertations, and other capstone projects.
To find a specific thesis, dissertation, APP or other project, you can search Cornerstone in multiple ways.
One way to search is to use the search box on the left hand side in the Theses, Dissertation and Other Capstone Projects collection to do a simple search.
Just enter your search words in the first box and select a option in the second box. Options here are:
Click on the "Search" button and you will get back a list of results matching your search.
Another way to search is by clicking on the Advanced Search link directly below the simple search box. An advanced search has more options.
For example, you can narrow your search to words found in the abstract, the title or the author's name. You can also limit your search by Document Type such as app or dissertation and you can limit a search by date range. If you want to search using the limit "Document Type," please note that you must use the following terms. To find a thesis: use the word thesis as the Document Type. For finding dissertations, use the word dissertation as the document type. To find APPs, use the term app as the Document Type. For all other Capstone Projects, use the word other as the Document Type.
In addition to searching via a simple or advanced search, theses, dissertations and other capstone projects are also organized by program. To find a thesis, dissertation or capstone project by a specific program, here is how you do it:
From the Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Project page (https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/theses_dissertations-capstone/) at the bottom of this page above the Readership Map, you should see a link for "Graduate Projects by Program." This will open a new window with a list of current collections of graduate works by the program and type of work (Alternative Plan Paper, Thesis, Dissertation, Other).
If you click on one of the collections (such as Nursing Theses), you will see a list of all the theses (or dissertations/capstone projects) that were written by students from a specific program.
If you cannot find a specific thesis, dissertation, or capstone project, please send a note to Heidi Southworth, Digital Initiatives Librarian at heidi.southworth@mnsu.edu and she can assist you. Please note that this is a growing collection that we are adding to each year, so we may not have an example of a thesis from every program.
