Search Tips
On this page: what is the difference between Discover, Discover Local and Databases?
Discover Local
Search Discover Local (online catalog) to find materials held by all locations of OU Libraries:
- print & Ebooks, journals & newspapers
- manuscripts, archival materials
- media, video, microforms
Ebooks available Online
Ebooks through Discover Local
Many Ebooks are available through Discover Local, from these Ebook Collections: ACLS, Cambridge Univ. Press, Ebrary, EBSCO, Proquest, Springer, US GPO, Wiley (many but NOT ALL with unlimited users).
See Virtual Book Shelf for select Ebooks in History of Science, Technology & Medicine
More Ebook sites:
Open Library via Discover Local Free access via Open Library, with records in Discover Local. A free Internet Archive account is required to borrow or reserve this ebook. Access limited to one user at a time. These items are not included in these guide pages.
Discover
Search Discover for a combined search of:
- items in Discover Local
- content from databases (articles from journals and magazines & more)
- content from the OU Libraries web site
Tips on Finding Full-Text Articles
Databases
Search Databases to find article-level content of journals, newspapers, magazines, and to search collections of digitized books and archival materials. (NOTE: some databases include citations but do not full-text of articles; if you need helping finding full-text articles see here)
Selecting Databases
Databases vary wildly in coverage snd scope. To select databases appropriate for your research needs, lbrowse the list below (NOTE: With EBSCO, you can search several databases at the same time)
- Database & EReference A-Z This list includes info on each database (with info about the scope of the database: does it include one or many subjects? current or historical content? popular or scholarly materials? Here is an example: Historical Abstracts
- Another way to identify databases relevant to particular subject areas is to browse OU Libraries Research Guides.