How to search the Library’s online resources

Sources of information Books: Good for clear overview Not so good for up to date information Journals: Good for latest research, critically reviewed by experts Not so good for a broad overview of a subject Newspaper: Good for daily information Not so good for balanced well researched information Website: Good for very up to date information Not so good for accurate and reliable information

Thinking about keywords What can you see in the picture? Note down 5 words that are more specific? List 5 words that are related to what you can see in the picture. OER from Middlesex University

Constructing a search Analyse your topic – key concepts Identify alternative terms or related terms Broaden or narrow your search using AND/OR/NOT eg university OR academic Phrase searching, eg “study skills” Truncation, eg educat* for education or educate

Library Search Search by keywords, eg Information literacy Refine results using left-hand menu, eg limit to certain publication dates or particular journals Click “View Online” to access the full text To save your results, click the “Add to my favourites” star, then select “My Favourites” (in top-right corner) You can the results to yourself or export them to reference management tools (eg Endnote) Alternatively, log in to save your results permanently within Library Search

Google vs Library Search Google Easy to use Finds too much information Access to some books and journals Designed to sell you things Search results sponsored Searches info from any source Pay for academic information Library Search Easy to use Finds lots of academic info Access to lots of books and journals Designed to find you info Search results by relevance Searches quality resources Free access to full text Based on an OER from Middlesex University

Key resources JSTOR MLA Nexis Oxford Reference Online Project Muse PsycINFO SCOPUS Web of Knowledge

News archives Use the Newspapers guide to access several news archives:Newspapers guide The Guardian and Observer The Times Daily Mirror Archive present Daily Mail Historical Archive

Results Many databases retrieve results in date order - most recently published at the top Change the sort order to view results in relevance order Narrow your results by specifying the publication date Use the button to locate full-text articles Use the Save/Export options to save your results

If we haven’t got what you need… Place a request: Journal articles ed to you Ebooks supplied when available

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