Hi
I was wondering if there is a database of PhD titles or abstracts (ideally online) that one could check to make sure you aren't duplicating other current research - does anyone know if such a thing exisits? (please forgive my stupidity if there is a really obvious answer).

ta
ksp

Try http://www.theses.com/

I'm not sure that's the best way to identify possible research overlaps though. I think a thorough lit review would give you a better idea. 'Current' research may be 2-3 years away from being recorded on a thesis database

In my subject (History) there is an annually updated list of theses in progress. But I think this is unusual. Most subjects don't have things like this.

www.theses.com is good for completed theses. Otherwise you just have to cross your fingers! I found a fellow student doing a closely-related topic to me. I only found out 2 years into my part-time PhD, by which time it was too late for me to change tack. But luckily we worked out where the differences between our research were.

Try also looking at ethos.co.uk It's a database with all (they wished!) PhDs digitised. Actually, some are digitised, so it maybe helpful

Sorry!!!
The site is ethos.bl.uk

I only come across this site last week - it's still in beta, and half of what I ordered was still 'in processing', but I've downloaded a few famous PhDs and come across some work relevant to my thesis that I didn't know existed (yikes).

Hello,
Proquest has a dissertation abstracts database, you could see if your library subscribes to it.