How do I find ...

Journal articles

Use Search

Search will retrieve journal articles that match your search terms or keywords.

• Up to 3 articles are displayed within the search results
• To view all the articles Search has found, choose the View over -- more link, or select Articles from either the Format facet in the left hand column or Articles via the link at the top of the page
• Search trawls the EBSCO Complete suite of databases, including Academic Search Complete; Art and Architecture Complete; Business Source Complete; Cinahl; Computer Source Complete; and Education Source Complete.

Learn more about Search.

Use Discover More

Discover More is a powerful discovery tool that searches all of the Library's EBSCO databases plus a large number of non-EBSCO databases.

To find just journal articles in Discover More select either:

• Scholarly (Peer reviewed) Journals check box which will find articles that have been reviewed and/or qualified by experts in the field of study covered by the journal or
• Academic Journals check box from the search results screen which limits your search to all articles, whether they are peer reviewed or not.

If you know the exact article title you're looking for, Discover More may lead you to the full text.

Learn more about Discover More.

Newspaper articles

The Library subscribes to a number of newspaper databases, as well as a selection of local, national and international newspapers. These are available in a variety of formats - electronic, print, or microfilm and microfiche.

Use Discover More

To find newspaper articles in Discover More type keywords into the search box on our homepage, then select Discover More.

• Discover More will find find articles from Newsbank and Newspaper Source Plus
• If your search is about very recent world events, the top ranked search result will by default probably be a newspaper article.

You can refine your search result to just newspaper articles by selecting either:

• News from the Source Types facet on the left hand side of the screen or
• Within the Content Provider facet, limit your results to just the newspaper-related databases, such as Newsbank and Newspaper Source Plus. Once this limit is applied, all future searches will be limited to the selected databases.

Books

Use Search

Search will retrieve book titles that contain your search terms or keywords anywhere in that book's record.

• You can use the Facets feature on the left-hand navigation of the results screen to refine your choices
• Search also has an Advanced Search option if you prefer to apply limits before you begin your search.

Learn more about Search.

Use Discover More

Are you looking for a specific book? If so, try refining your search results to just the catalogue.

• From a search result list, select the Catalogue Only checkbox under Refine your results
• Select Update
• Your search result will now be limited to items from the Library catalogue
• You may also like to limit the search to your campus
• Select the check box next to the campus you want to limit your search to under Location in the left-hand navigation.

Note: more than one campus can be selected.

Learn more about Discover More.

Databases

To access the complete list of databases relevant to your subject area, select a-z databases on our homepage.

• This link takes you to our classic catalogue which features a range of search options including:
  • a drop down box of popular databases
  • an A-Z browse option
  • a subject listing of databases held.

What is a database anyway?

A database is a searchable collection of references to journals and other literature. Databases can be subject specific and narrow in focus, or multidisciplinary covering a wide range of subjects.You can select and search databases individually or as a group.

I don't know which databases to search

If you're not sure which databases are relevant for your topic you can either:

• check out the Library Resource Guides. Each guide includes a selected list of the most relevant databases for your subject area
  
• browse the Databases by Subject listing as mentioned above to see a complete list of the databases held.

Wildcards

Substitute a wildcard symbol, such as ? for a single letter (character) of a word. This is very useful for searching spelling variations such as American versus British spellings.
Using the ? symbol will find the various ways a word is spelt in a database e.g.: organi?ation will find organisation and organization.

You will usually find help files, information pages, FAQs and guides to using wildcards in each database.

Search and find individual newspaper databases

Access newspaper articles by searching newspaper databases such as Newsbank, Factiva and Australian Newspapers Online.

• Type the name of the newspaper database you want into Search
• Check out the News tab on your Library Resource Guide for a list of newspaper databases
• Select a-z databases on our homepage and Search for Newspapers in the left-hand navigation.

Reading lists

You will most likely be given a reading list of prescribed texts, recommended texts and e-readings for your units. We sometimes hold past exam papers, readers and study guides as well as other unit help within our Library Resource Guides.

• On our homepage select unit material
• Enter your unit code in the unit materials box and click Search
• You can also find Reserve (2 hour loans) for your units on this same page
• E-readiings can be accessed either from the Library or CloudDeakin - check both locations to find them.