As more digital data become publicly available new opportunities for researchers in education are arising. Researchers may be unaware of the existence and usefulness of such data even though these are freely available. In this article the use of one such source of information is described and its potential for research into research education discussed. We sought to exploit the research potential of the existing, yet dispersed, collection of online Australian thesis records to inform their research into the development of the PhD in Australia. Having created a searchable and reliable database from the available records, bibliometric analyses enabled us to map knowledge production and research capability in institutional and disciplinary settings from 1949 to 2003 as indicated by PhD theses. This is in contrast to the more familiar use of data based on student load or completion rates, and complements that data by focusing on research output as opposed to student throughput.