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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 Local Catalog Free access via Open Library, with records in the Local Catalog.  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 current or historical content?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