Where should you search?
The type of information you are looking for will determine where you search.
Let’s start with library databases, because all UTS research students will need journal articles and academic books.
What is a library database?
A library database is an online collection of scholarly resources. Databases include journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, reports, dissertations, books and other types of information.
Databases can be interdisciplinary (covering several topics), or subject specific (focusing on one particular discipline).
As a research student, it’s a good idea to create an account in relevant databases and save searches so you can access them later. You can also sign up for alerts to get the latest happenings in your area of research.
Selecting databases
There are too many library databases, so you can’t search them all. Most research students choose databases according to discipline (e.g. Science, Health, History). You will get relevant academic resources in your subject area when you use your search string in these databases
Sometimes other disciplines have made discoveries that would affect your research project. So, we also recommend you search one multi-disciplinary database. This ensures you won’t miss out on relevant articles from other disciplines.
Subject headings
Some databases have ‘subject headings’, which you should add to your search if they are an option. Examples of databases with subject headings are Medline and ERIC.
A subject heading is an assigned word (or phrase) used in a database to describe a concept. Every article in the database will be given subject headings. This means that even if the keywords, terminology or spelling are different, the article will still appear in search because of its categorisation.
You can select subject headings from a thesaurus or mapping tool within the database and apply them to your search. Look at the database manual for instructions about adding subject headings.
Run the Search
Once you have chosen your databases, you can run the search. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
-
Search for each database in the library catalogue, using your UTS student details to login
-
Create a database account so you can save the search for later
-
Enter the search string into the database. You might need to change the string according to the database.
-
Check the UTS playlist on database searching or the database help page for additional support