This guide was created to help you search for literature more thoroughly and efficiently. Learning how to review literature will not only help you with your research project in this class. The skills you will develop will aid you in providing a proper literature review for your theses.
With this guide, you will be able to
Subject or Course Guides are a great place to go to find out about a subject.
ZipSearch is a good place to start. It searches several of our databases and catalogs simultaneously. Don't use ZipSearch for in-depth research.
Good use – Find one article to review for a class project.Use the databases directly for in-depth research on a topic. If you know exactly what book, DVD, etc. that you want, use the UA Libraries Catalog directly.
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The library's most comprehensive search engine. It includes articles, books, journals, conference proceedings, streaming videos, book reviews, and more. Search over 100 databases simultaneously, including Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, and ScienceDirect. For more information, visit this ZipSearch guide.
Do you know where the Article is (what journal, conference, volume, pages, etc)? Use the UA Libraries Catalog. opens new window
Need a Specific Article that Can't be Downloaded and is not in our Library? Try
Want to perform a more thorough search than ZipSearch? More about ZipSearch on this Webpage. Use the Articles & Books using Databases page in this guide. Use the descriptions to find the databases that contain articles that are most closely related to your topic.
Where should I start? Try the following
First, use the UA Libraries Catalog. opens new window If we don't have it, try the OhioLINK catalog. Use the button in the UA Libraries Catalog.
If OhioLINK does not have it, try SearchOhio. Use the button in the OhioLINK catalog. If neither have it, try to order it from interlibrary loan.
Sometimes it is convenient to search electronic books directly particularly when looking for quick facts or code syntax.
Electronic books in computer science, information technology, business, and related fields. Note: Here are Instructions for accessing O'Reilly eBooks
If you have too little or too much information, you can adjust your search and try again.
You will probably have a mixture of broad and narrow searches.
They will save you time.
Try a reference manager. All reference managers have advantages and disadvantages. Mostly, it is a matter of preference. For more information about reference managers, go to
Using the Request through interlibrary loan hyperlink.
When you use the Full Text Finder button from one of our databases, the Request through interlibrary loan hyperlink could be the only one that appears. Some databases will have this hyperlink listed directly on the search results. In these cases, you don't have to select the Full Text Finder button first.
Either way, the form will partially fill out for you. Be sure to check the information is right – The more correct the information you give them, the faster you will get the article. After you select the hyperlink, you will need to log on using your UANet ID and password.
Getting your Article
Interlibrary loan will get the article for you if they can. If they can get a copy, you will get an email when your article is ready. If they can't get a copy, you will get an email letting you know as well.
Filling out the Interlibrary Loan Request Form
If you did not find your article from a database and we do not have it, fill out the interlibrary loan opens new window form. An example of how to fill out the About my item section when requesting an article is
Journal Title: *
Published Date:
Volume:
Issue/Number:
Page Numbers: *
Title of the article: *
Author of article:
ISSN:
OCLC#:
DOI:
Where did you learn about this item?