Sources can be books, journal articles, websites, or any form of evidence we can use to support our work. It can be tempting to ‘just Google it’ and settle for the first few hits you find. However, searching for quality academic sources takes some more planning and a systematic approach to make sure you’re getting good quality evidence.
Scroll down for our recommended strategies and resources.
Your module reading list gives you sources recommended by your lecturer. Find your reading list on the Moodle page for each module, linked to in the top right-hand corner, or in your Module handbook. Alternatively, use the Brookes Library search box by clicking on the 'reading lists' tab and entering your module code or module name. See this Library video for more help:
Brookes Library search box is a good place to start as you can search for the resources we have available at Brookes, and you can also find links to specialist databases, subject help, and reading lists. You will still need to evaluate them to see if they are relevant and suitable for your purpose. See our page on evidence:
If you’re not getting many results, try using synonyms (e.g. ‘wind power’ and ‘solar power’ instead of just ‘green energy’) or using an * to stand in for possible multiple endings (e.g. educat* would include educate, educated, education, educational or educator.) Looking in the reference list of one good source may give you further leads. If you are not finding what you need, your Academic Liaison Librarian can help you develop effective search strategies.
Brookes Library has access to a wide range of sources, but if there are specific sources that we don't have, or that you need for a specialist project or dissertation, you can use the Interlibrary loan service: