Choosing Discovery Tools

The types of publications listed in the previous step can usually be found by using various “discovery tools”—databases on the UNB libraries’ web site which provide access to specific types of publications:

To find encyclopedia or other introductory articles, use Reference Materials.

Use a Subject Guide, if a relevant one exists for your topic area. These usually begin with librarian-recommended reference sources to help you get started with your research. Or follow the links to the online list of web-accessible reference materials, or to the print reference materials listed in Quest.

To find books and documents,
use UNB WorldCat or Quest.

Not sure where to begin? Try UNB WorldCat, which lets you find most of the books held at our local UNB Libraries, plus books and other materials found at libraries around the world. It includes a few of the journal articles held within our vast collection of e-journals. Books and other documents not held by UNB can be requested via Document Delivery. The most RELEVANT items are listed first.

To search for books at UNB Libraries, you can also use our local catalogue, Quest, which lets you find materials held at the Harriet Irving, Science and Forestry, Engineering, and Law Libraries, as well as the Ward Chipman Library in Saint John. The most RECENT book acquisitions are listed first—some of which may still be on order, yet to arrive at the library. Quest's Course Reserves lists high-demand materials available for short term loan.

To find articles, use Article & Research Databases.

These licensed databases provide access to individual articles in periodicals, as well as some other publication types, such as book chapters, conference papers, or dissertations. When you use these databases, you will note that several of them have similar interfaces, and may be searched simultaneously, as they are supplied by the same database vendor.

Some databases provide abstracts—convenient summaries of each publication. There is also often a link, or several links, to the full text of the publication. In addition, there may also be a link to Quest, which will allow you to locate the journal in the library if it is available in print, and to Document Delivery, through which the article can be requested.

If you begin with a full reference to an article (perhaps provided by your professor, or found in your textbook or an encyclopedia article), and want to find a journal by its title, you can bypass the indexing databases, and go directly to the library’s e-journals database or Quest.

You can waste a lot of time using any discovery tool if you do not know some basic database searching techniques. Before you begin your search, take a quick look at Step 3b.

Next: Searching Databases

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