Course resource help for Pathways programmes

• If you're new to the Oxford Brookes Library, check our quick guides for new starters
• Check How to get help using the Library
• Find out about Library services for users with a disability and Alternate formats
• Check a PDF floor plan of the Headington Library. The main section for Business resources is on Level 3.
  English language learning resources are on Level 3 of the Headington Library. 

Check the section Wellbeing and Sustainability to find out about ways the Library can support you, including: 

• the Library's Wellbeing Zone and Sensory Study Space
• resources for reading and viewing for pleasure
• resources to help you adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.

Dictionaries and language resources

OED - online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

English language learning resources are shelved on Level 3 of the Headington Library.

Here are some key sections:

• 420 English language
• 423 English dictionaries
• 423.1 Thesauri and dictionaries of English synonyms
• 425 English grammar
• 428 English language usage
• 428.24 Learning English as a foreign language, including IELTS

Use LibrarySearch to look for dictionaries and other language resources available via the library.

Reference books

• Oxford Reference Online - collection of Oxford University Press reference books on a variety of subjects. Good sources for finding concise factual information and definitions. Individual titles from the collection are also listed on LibrarySearch.

Graded readers are simplified versions of English books - usually novels or short stories. 

You can find the library's collection of graded readers on Level 3 of the Headington Library, shelved at the call number 428.64. 

You can browse through a selection of titles in this list English reading resources: Graded Readers

Managing yourself and your time - list of books, web resources and other support.

Reading, lectures and note taking - list of books, web resources and other support:

• Resources on reading skills
• Lectures, seminars and note-taking

Writing essays, reports and other assignments -  list of books, web resources and other support:

• Writing essays
• Writing reports
• Writing for Business - including how to write business plans
• Critical reading, critical thinking & constructing arguments
• Using sources in your written work

 Lists of books, web resources and other support:

• Group work and presentations 
• Poster presentations
• Preparing for exams

Lists of books, web resources and other support:

• Dissertations and independent research
• Social research methods

• Get more from Google
• Use AI tools for research

You can access LibrarySearch:

• On the Library home page
• Use the Quick Access link at the top of this page or the links in the section below.
• If you're in Moodle, use the Library link in the top menu

How do I search for books?

• Use LibrarySearch to look for books and eBooks available in the Oxford Brookes Library. Just type in the author, title or subject that you are interested in. Limit your search results to books.
• Check the video guide (right) for tips on how LibrarySearch works

How do I find print books in the Library?

Print books have a call number which tells you where the book is shelved in the Library.

For example. this book: Academic writing : a handbook for international students by Stephen Bailey. is shelved at 808.042 BAI.

The system for arranging stock in Brookes Library is called the Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC). Every book has a number to denote its subject and letters to help you find a specific book. 

Guides to help you with understanding call numbers and finding books on the library shelves:

• Finding your material - part of our quick guides for new starters  
•  A guide to finding books and eBooks in Brookes Library (Word doc)
• A guide to finding books and eBooks in Brookes Library (PDF)

How do I borrow books?

• Borrowing and returning tells you about borrowing print books (part of our quick guides For new starters)
• If the book is on loan to another user or at one of our other libraries, you can put a hold on it (YouTube video). If it's on the shelves, it's quicker for you to go and get it yourself.

Use LibrarySearch to look for books and eBooks available in the Oxford Brookes Library. Type in the author, title or subject that you are interested in. If you want to just see eBooks, you can limit your results by using the filters on the left. 

Here is an example of a library eBook: Success As an Online Student: Strategies for Effective Learning . Follow the 'View eBook' link to connect to it. Log in when prompted with your Brookes student number and password. 

Our eBooks are on various web platforms, for example this one is on  ProQuest Ebook Central. You'll see there are options to:

• Read the book online
• Download individual chapters as PDFs (NB you will be restricted as to how many pages you could save from the whole book).
• Download the whole book for a limited time (usually between 1 and 21 days).

In order to download many of our eBooks - including ones on ProQuest - you need to have the Adobe Digital Editions programme or app on your computer/device. You can download Adobe Digital Editions for free.

O'Reilly eBooks

O'Reilly is another eBook platform but it works differently to most other e-resources. If you need to access an O'Reilly eBook, check this quick guide to how to login; steps 4-6 show you what to do when you reach the O'Reilly site.

Academic journals are key sources for your university studies and your tutors will encourage them to use them as sources in your assignments.

• Articles published in these journals are written by specialists in the subject and they provide an insight into current thinking, debate and research in the field. 
• Journals can be good sources of up to date information on current topics which may not be covered by books. 
• Articles can cover a specific topic in depth, e.g. a case study. 

This guide Anatomy of a Journal (PDF) from the Open University explains clearly what a journal is, and how they differ from books.

Peer reviewed journal articles

You will often be asked to consult peer reviewed articles for your research. These are high quality scholarly articles that have been checked by other experts in the field. 

The peer review provides feedback so that researchers can revise and improve their papers before publication. It also acts as a quality check, ensuring that articles meet high standards expected in the discipline and required to maintain the reputation of the journal. Find out more about the purpose of peer review and how it works in this Explainer: what is peer review?

LibrarySearch is a good place to start looking for journal articles on a topic. Just type your keywords or a phrase in the search box. At the results screen, use the the filter options on the left to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles.

We recommend you also use databases, especially for more in-depth research because LibrarySearch doesn’t cover all of our e-resources and you may get better results on a more specialised database.

If you have the details of a specific article (for example from an author's bibliography) you may be able to find it through LibrarySearch by typing in some key words from the article title and an author. If the article doesn't come up, you'll need to look up the journal instead to see if we have it  - see the section 'Look for a specific journal' below.

Here is an example of an article from an academic journal which follows a very common structure:

Thurnell-Read, T., Brown, L. and Long, P. (2018) 'International Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of British Drinking Cultures’, Sociological Research Online, 23(3), pp.572-588. 

Always start with the abstract: a summary of the article’s content that appears at the beginning. Look at this to help you decide if an article is relevant for your own research. 

Journal articles often have this structure: Introduction - The research study - Discussion/conclusions. 

1. Introductory section: the author will usually set their article in the context of previous research. Notice all the in-text citations, e.g. (Gill, 2002). These are sources that the authors read before conducting their own research. 
2. The research study: this will form the main part of the article
3. Discussion/Conclusions: Where the author highlights what they found out. 

When you're searching for sources, you don't have to read the article in full at this stage. Scan through the abstract, introduction and conclusion to see if it's relevant to your own research topic. If the article looks useful, download the PDF and read it later, making notes as you go. Don’t forget to record all the details of the article for your reference list.

Looking for a specific journal

• Go to the Library and select the 'Journal titles' tab.
• Type in the journal title.
• Find the journal on LibrarySearch and click on the title.
• Click on the 'Access journal' link to connect to the journal home page.
• The journal site may offer a search function and will also allow you to browse. If browsing, use the year, volume and issue numbers to find the correct journal issue. Articles in each issue will be listed in page order, so use the page numbers to find the specific article.

Looking for a specific article

You may want to do this if you're following up a reference found in a bibliography:

• Try looking up the article on LibrarySearch. Use the author's surname and a few keywords from the article title.
• If you can't locate the article in this way, follow the steps above to look up the journal title and check if we have access to the journal and issue you need.

It's a good idea to keep track of your sources as you find them, so that it's easier to reference them later. Check this guide for How to save and cite sources in LibrarySearch (Google slides)

Always check Cite Them Right to see how your references should look in the Harvard style required at Brookes.

• Library eBooks - Cite Them Right says to reference these in the same way as print books 
• Journal articles - make sure you have a record of: Author(s); Title of article; Title of journal; Year of publication; Volume number (if given); Issue number (if given); Page numbers. You may also want to note the DOI.

Why should I use databases?

LibrarySearch is a useful starting point but it doesn’t include all of our e-resources. We recommend you also use library databases:

• Databases may give you additional sources that aren't listed on LibrarySearch
• Some databases are subject-specific so you can focus on the most relevant sources for your topic.

How do I use databases?

Check the section How to use databases (below) to find:

• Which databases are recommended
• How to search databases effectively

Highly recommended website: The Conversation

The online publication The Conversation mentioned above contains articles written by academics for a general audience on topics currently in the news and contains links to freely available resources, including statistics. This can be a good starting point for getting ideas on how to approach a research topic.

Finding web sources through Google and Google Scholar

• Google Scholar is a freely available search engine that focuses on scholarly sources. Check our guide Searching Scholar to find out how to ensure it recognises resources you can access for free via Brookes.
• Get more from Google - tips on using Google and Google Scholar more effectively.

Evaluating web pages

Remember that you need high quality reliable sources for your university work. Take a look at our guide to Evaluating Web sources for tips (Word & PDF versions available).

Referencing web pages

Check Cite Them Right for guidance on how to reference web pages in the Harvard style used at Brookes.

NB Always check the assignment brief to see whether any use of AI is permitted. If you have used AI, make sure you fill out the declaration form.

Key Brookes links:

• Artificial Intelligence  - Centre for Academic Development (CAD) guidance
• Use of Artificial Intelligence - Academic Integrity module on Moodle

Can I use generative AI tools like ChaptGPT to produce references?

Take care when using chat tools as they will often invent plausible but non-existent references. These tools don’t carry out a search of the literature for you and they may generate references using real people, journals & words from titles, but which do not exist.

Are there AI tools that could be useful for research?

There are other AI tools like Research Rabbit, Keenious and SciSpace which are designed to help you to find literature and understand how different sources relate to each other. To find out more, check the Library page Use AI tools for research.

Statistics

The key place to look for UK statistics is the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website. ONS collects and publishes statistics on a wide range of topics. They also conduct the census in England and Wales every 10 years.

You can find links to more subject-specific sources on our Statistics page which covers UK and international statistical sources 

Country reports

Annual country reports can be useful sources of information about the economic, political and social situation of individual countries, as well as recent statistics:

Use the database Business Source Complete  to run a search for the country name plus 'country report' (e.g. Nigeria country report).

For further help, check this video guide produced by the Brookes Business Librarians

Check this guide Using images in your assignments (Google slides) which covers:

• Understanding copyright
• Finding free to use images
• Crediting and referencing images

Collections of images

For high quality photographs & other images, try these digital image databases mentioned in the guide above:

• Bridgeman Education
• JSTOR database (incorporating ARTstor) offers an image search enabling you to find high-quality images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Collections of high quality, free to use photos and images - all mentioned in the guide above:

• Unsplash
• Pexels
• Pixabay

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an online archive of films, TV and radio programmes. You can create your own clips from programmes and include them in presentations. Learn more from the BoB Video Tutorials