Chemistry
Why databases?
Searching the library catalogue allows users to complete basic searches of library material and will only shows you items that the library subscribes to, or books within our collections. This is fine in Stage 1 but progressing in your course will expose you to more in-depth content and require you to start searching for more obscure material. For your research project it may even be necessary to move beyond our subscriptions.
Library databases are expensive resources that we invest in to help you discover and access more content. There are generally 2 types:
Collections of journals that you can use from individual publishers such as Elsevier (Science Direct) or Ebsco (Environment Complete).
Indexing databases (Web of Science, Scopus) that draw together information about millions of articles from different publishers to help you discover items. These usually have a quality board that ensures that only trustworthy journals are included in your search. They include articles we do have access to, as well as articles we don't subscribe to.
The tutorials should help you understand why using an indexing databases is better for articles than Primo or Google Scholar and show you how to complete basic searches on the top 2 science indexing databases.
See below for video tutorials for Web of Science and Scopus.
Click here to practice boolean searching (AND/OR) with an interactive pizza menu game!
Full list of databases for Chemistry
Improve your search skills on our Library Skills pages
There are also links to the information and training provided by both Clarivate and Elsevier for these tools, in case you would like to access training and webinars offered by these.
For further information on building a search see our Library Skills page on Search Strategy.
There are also Library Skills pages on Systematic Literature Reviews if this applies to your research.
