Study Skills: Binding Your Dissertation
Published on 14 August 13
Apart from receiving your results, binding your dissertation or project is the final stage of the dissertation process. It can be an unnecessarily stressful one too, so make sure you plan ahead using this handy guide to ensure your hand-in is as smooth as can be.
So apparently my project has to be bound in a particular way – how do I know what it is?
Though the formatting of dissertations may differ from course to course, the type of binding you need to use is fairly consistent across the University. Use the Guidance for the Presentation of Taught Masters Dissertations document for the exact requirements, and ensure that they are followed wherever you choose to get it done.
Where can I get my dissertation bound?
There are a number of places to get your dissertation bound in Manchester, many of them on or very close to campus.
- Library Bindery at the Joule Library – Being a University bindery, the Library Bindery will ensure that all dissertations are bound to University standards. Despite being based at the Joule Library, the Library Bindery also has a service point at the Main Library, where staff will take your dissertation, transport it to the Joule Library and deliver it back to the Main Library. It is open from 14 August to 10 September, and more details of all of its services and opening hours can be found here.
- Blackwell – The Precinct Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RN. Blackwell University bookshop will be offering a full range of binding services for the first time in 2013.
- MuPrint – Victoria Hall, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester M15 6AA. An independent shop offering a full range of binding services very close to the University’s South Campus. Visit http://www.muprint.com/ for further information.
- U-Print – U-Print is a print shop based in the basement of the Students’ Union offering both soft- and hard- binding services on a while-you-wait, first-come-first-served basis. For opening hours and a pricelist visit www.u-print.com.
When should I get my dissertation bound?
This is entirely up to you. Obviously, giving yourself a couple of days to get your dissertation bound will make for a far less stressful hand-in, but it is possible to have a dissertation bound on deadline day. Please, please be aware that queues on hand-in day can be very, very long, and the binding process can take a while, so we would recommend you aim to have your dissertation printed and ready to be bound as early as possible.