Carrying out research

If you want to carry out research in the Library to find out what is available on a particular topic, you can do this using the Library Search search engine, or you can search individual databases.

Library Search (formerly Summon)

Library Search is useful as it searches across most of the databases at the same time and retrieves items from all of the databases it searches. This means you only have to do one search and have one set of search results. See the Using Library Search guide for help carrying out research using Library Search.

Databases

As not all databases are searched by Library Search, you may sometimes need to search individual databases to find the information you need.

Another reason why you might want to carry out your research within specific databases is to take advantage of the search functions within those databases. For example, the PsycInfo database allows you to search for research carried out using specific methodologies in Psychology, something which cannot be done as accurately using Library Search.

See our Information Skills guidance for guidance on how to search databases effectively.

Each database has a Help section that will help you search that specific database. There are also Database Quick Start Guides for our key databases.