Finding more information for your essay or project

Searching by topic on the Catalogue
Finding journal articles at Brookes
Using abstracts/indexes and databases
Finding special types of information
Internet guides and tutorials
Finding information not held at Brookes Library

Finding journal articles at Brookes

• Journals (also known as periodicals or magazines) provide a valuable source of information. Journal articles are more up-to-date than books and often cover specific topics in more detail.
• The Library Catalogue lists journals by their title and tells you which library site has the journal, what the shelfmark is and what years the Library holds.
  • If you are looking for a particular journal article, you will need to click on More search options and enter the journal title in the box marked Title. Do not search using the article title. Next, click in the Format box and select Journal, Magazine, Newspaper from the list of options. Finally, click the Search button to run the search. All journals are shown with a shelfmark preceded by J
• The journals are arranged in the Library according to their subject.
• The Library also provides access to a number of electronic journals. These electronic journals are listed on the A - to -Z ejournals service. Some of them are also listed on the Library catalogue..
• Articles within the journals are not listed on the Library Catalogue. Some journals produce their own index, often at the end of each year. The indexes usually allow you to search by subject and by author. There are also other ways to find articles in journals: see Abstracts/indexes and databases for details.
• Keeping up to date with journal articles.
• Photocopying

Using abstracts/indexes and databases

• What are they?

  • They are a way of finding journal articles (and sometimes other material such as book chapters) on a particular topic or by a particular author.
  • Indexes provide subject and author access to individual journal articles; additionally abstracts provide a brief summary of content.
  • Abstracts and indexes will give you full bibliographic details (eg author, title, journal name, volume and page numbers) but not the actual (or full text) article.
  • Abstracts and indexes may be in printed or electronic form.
  • Database is the term we use to describe abstracts and indexes in electronic form.
  • Some of the databases now are full text (ie they contain the complete item).

• Why use them?

• The Library Catalogue will only tell you which journals are held. It does not index individual articles within journals.
• To find journal articles on your particular topic you can browse the Brookes journal collection but this can be a hit and miss approach and may not be a good use of your time.
• Some journals provide an annual index to their articles but you would need to look at several journals to get a subject overview.
• Abstracts and indexes can provide a more structured approach to finding journal articles at Brookes and elsewhere:
  • large numbers of journals are indexed
  • coverage is often international
• The Library will not have all the journals that are listed in these indexes. Check the Library Catalogue for details.

• Where are they?

  • See the information on the subject web pages for further details of abstracts, indexes and databases in your subject area
  • See our details of our electronic databases with access details.
  • If you have not used this type of resource before, you can contact your Subject Librarian for advice and training.

Finding special types of information

• Dissertations and theses
• Legal information (Word document)
• Maps and atlases
• News and current affairs
• Statistical information
  • Guide to British statistical data (Word or PDF format)
  • Guide to International statistical data (Word or PDF format)
• UK government publications

Finding information not held at Brookes Library

• Using other libraries
  • The catalogues of other libraries are also available on the internet.
• Interlibrary Loans service