There are 8 short tutorials you can do to improve your research skills. Choose from such topics as how to create a search topic, how to cite other people's research - and more.
You can also set up an appointment with your librarian.The Library's Research & Learning Department is staffed by librarians who cover all the subject areas taught at UA. Select your "research assistant" from the list of librarians and the subjects they cover.
A database is a searchable collection of information. When you're doing library research, a database is where you find journal articles. Each database contains thousands of articles which you can search for simultaneously and quickly to find articles with higher relevancy than searching on the World Wide Web. The library databases also provide you with results that you can rely on to be credible, or authoritative. To see all the databases you have access to, from the Library homepage, just hit the "See all databases" button.
If you are writing a paper on a scientific subject (for example, engineering, astronomy, computer science), Scopus would be a good starting point. For humanities subjects (for example, history, Buddhism, music), Academic Search Ultimate will provide you with many peer-reviewed articles.
Scopus  |
Academic Search Ultimate |
| Scopus covers nearly 37 thousand different journal titles from approximately 12 thousand publishers. The top subject fields it covers are the life, social, physical and health sciences. | Academic Search Ultimate offers students an unprecedented collection of peer-reviewed, full-text journals, including many journals indexed in leading citation indexes. |
| Tutorial | Tutorial |
The library purchases eBooks on a variety of platforms. These have different restrictions on the number of pages you could download and print, but they all are available to be read on your choice of device - be it your pc/mac, tablet or phone.
To get a list of eBooks on your topic you may enter your keywords in the search box on the Library homepage and then narrow your results by checking off the "Full text online" and "Books" boxes to the left of your search results.
You could also use an advanced search, select material type 'Books' from the drop down, then enter your subject on the search line. After you get your results, checking the "Full text online" box will give you a list of all the eBooks on your topic.
