How to search the Library’s online resources

Sources of information

Books: Good for clear overviewNot so good for up to date information

Journals: Good for latest research, critically reviewed by expertsNot so good for a broad overview of a subject

Newspaper: Good for daily informationNot so good for balanced well researched information

Website: Good for very up to date informationNot 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 email 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:

• The Guardian and Observer 1821-2003

• The Times 1785-1985

• Daily Mirror Archive 1903 - present

• Daily Mail Historical Archive 1896-2004

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 Findit@US 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 emailed to you

• Ebooks supplied when available

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/info/ilr

Getting help

library@sussex.ac.uk

Bookable training sessions

Skills hub

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