Tag Archives: library search

1000s more ebooks added to LibrarySearch

This month Library has added 1000s more ebooks covering all subject areas have been added to LibrarySearch. This is in addition to the large collection of ebooks already available to RHUL students, researchers & staff.

To find ebooks, just search for book titles as normal and if the ebook is available it will appear alongside print titles in the results list. Or select ‘Full text available’ from filter list on the left hand menu in the LibrarySearch results page.

(See the ‘how to find ebooks’ video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXrhB6L5D6c )

Search for ebooks on LibrarySearch

PLEASE NOTE: some ebooks offer a ‘preview’ of the first 50 pages before allowing you to access the rest of the content. If you receive a notice to say that you can preview the first 50 pages of the book (pages 1 to 50), but you want to view further than page 50, then click on the preview and then wait for 5 minutes. You should then see the following message:

“Preview Expired. The 5 minute, 50 page preview has expired. Would you like to continue reading? This will unlock the entire book”

Just click on ‘Continue reading’ and you can access the whole text.

This should all work smoothly, but if you have any problems accessing these texts, or if you want to check if a text is available as an ebook, just ask at the Library Help Desk or email:

library@rhul.ac.uk and we will look into this for you.

I can’t find a journal article what do I do now?

Sometimes you may have found an article you think will be very useful for your research but you can’t quickly find it on Library Search. Don’t give up!

Before you do anything else register for Senate House 

1. Check the journal title on  Library Search

Not all articles will appear when you search Library Search for them by title but we may still have a subscription to the journal. Go to the Journals by Title option on Library Search. Type in the Journal title. If you were looking for this article:

Ver Straeten, C. A. (2013), Beneath it all: bedrock geology of the Catskill Mountains and implications of its weathering. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1298: 1–29. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12221

The title of the journal is Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Search for this and you go to the main page for the journal. Select the year, volume and issue to find the article. In most cases you could search within the title by author or article title.

2. Check Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a useful resource when you are trying to track down articles. As a database it won’t cover as much as our databases but it can help you find ways to access material.

Note:  Set your Google Scholar Settings to link to Senate House and RHUL – more information here.

As well as allowing you to check both RHUL libraries and Senate Hose it also brings back information from some Online Repositories.

3. Check Senate House

Although most of the time Google Scholar will tell you if Senate House has something online it is always worth double checking.  Search for the Journal Title at Senate house 

4. Inter-Library Loan

If we don’t have the journal and neither does Senate House, consider requesting an Inter-Library Loan.  This service is available to members of College.

5. Other Libraries

See if another library has it, and visit yourself: use the information on the Other Libraries page.

If in doubt, always check with your Information Consultant before spending any money online.

Library Search – Exporting to Refworks

You will need a Refworks account to export. Details of how to set one up are available here.

If you are going to access Refworks off campus you will need the Group Code: RWRoyalH

  1. When you are in an item there is a Send To link on the right hand side.
  2. This drops down and you can see Refworks as an option.Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.23.17 pm
  3. Click Refworks
  4. You will need to log into Refworks if you aren’t already logged in
  5. The reference automatically imports and this screen appears Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.27.18 pm
  6. To view the reference quickly you can select View Last Imported Folder

Searching for Eresources in Library Search

One of the improvements to Library Search is that you can now search for an Eresource within it. For example if you want to go direct to JSTOR you can just search for JSTOR and get a link to the resource.

You can also search for groups of Eresources in a subject area by selecting E-resource collections  under Resource Type (you may need to select More Options as this video shows)

Library Search – Exporting to Endnote Basic

To export to Endnote Basic

  1. Select Endnote Basic from the drop down Send to menuScreen Shot 2013-06-19 at 4.41.35 pm
  2. You will be redirected to Endnote Basic and will need to login
  3. The reference will automatically be importedScreen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.36.52 pm

 

 

 

 

Library Search – Use your E-Shelf

Library Search provides a personal space where you can save records of interest, save searches and create alerts. This is called the e-shelf.

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.45.33 pm

 

Use the Sign in to login with your IT username and password

Once logged in, you can save records of interest by selecting the star symbol by the book and details:
Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.52.19 pm

If you go to the e-shelf you can view all the records you have saved.

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.53.25 pm

From here you can create folders and sort references into folders using the symbols on the left

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.54.46 pm

You can also Cut, Copy, Past, Delete, Email, Print and Save Results

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.56.17 pm

To save you can export the records you have selected to Endnote Basic, RefWorks and as an RIS feed (for Endnote Desktop).

You can also make notes for each of the references

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.58.05 pm

Library Search – Save your query

You can save queries to run them again at a later date.

To do this you will need to sign in

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 5.45.33 pm

Scroll to the bottom left of the page and the options below are there:

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 6.01.16 pm

 

You can save the query by selecting save query

You then have the option to name your query

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 6.03.59 pm

You can also select Save & Alert.

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 6.04.24 pm

 

Enter your email address and Library Search will email you when new results are added.

When you have saved your query this screen appears

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 6.04.49 pmNow go to e-shelf and select the queries tab

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 6.09.12 pm

To view the results click on the query name.

 

Library Search – Find a Book

To find a book in Library Search you can use the search box on the main Library home page or the one on Library search:

Screen Shot 2013-06-20 at 4.13.39 pm

  • In the search box enter one or two key words from the title and the surname of the author

e.g. for  Study Skills Connected by Stella Cottrell, type: Cottrell study skills

  • Click the Search button
  • Click the Books, Music and Films tab to narrow the results to just books
  • When the search results appear you can also narrow to just e-book results, by clicking Electronic Books in the Collection menu or the Full Text Online option under Show Only

Screen Shot 2013-06-20 at 4.09.12 pm

  • Check that the search result matches yours i.e. the author, title and year of publication is correct.

Screen Shot 2013-06-20 at 4.16.06 pm

One or more of these links are displayed under each result

  • Find & Request – there are one or more printed copies of this book
  • View Online – this book is available as an e-book
  • Both Find & Request AND View Online – this book is available in print and as an e-book
  • View all versions of this title – there are multiple editions of this title and/or it is available in print and as an e-book
  • Screen Shot 2013-06-20 at 4.15.14 pm

Now  store your search results.

Library Search just got better!

Today we launched the upgrade to Library Search

Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 4.22.55 pm

 

Here are some top tips to get the best out of it:

  1. To do a basic search, just type one or more words and click the Search button. Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 4.27.37 pm
  2. Remember that Library Search assumes that you are searching for all the words you type, for example: ‘the”, “of”, “an”,”for” would be included in a search.
  3. Library Search’s new Advanced Search menu allows you to mix various search elements to create a focused or specialised search of all Libraries materials.The drop down boxes allow you to search for words in Title, Author, Subject or User tags.You can also focus your search by selecting Publication Date, Material Type, Language, and Start & End dates.

    Example: Search for books written in English with the word history in the title, London in the subject description. Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 4.30.23 pm

  4. Once you are familiar with doing a Basic search, you might want to try doing more with the Search box.
    From the Search box you can:

    • Search for phrases
    • Include words or phrases
    • Exclude words or phrases
    • Search using wildcard characters
    • Group terms
  5. Export references from within the item to RefWorks or Endnote Basic Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 4.41.35 pm
  6. The Brief results display all the items that match your search query.The following information displays for each item on your results page:
    • Content Type:the format of the item, such as book, article, journal, and so forth.
    • Title:Click the title to display either the item’s information or go to the online version.
    • Author, creator, and date:the item’s author, creator, and publication date
    • Star icon:click the Star icon next to the title to add or remove the item from your e-Shelf. A highlighted star indicates that you have already added it to your e-Shelf.
  7. If you would like to see more information on an item, you can use the following:
    • Locations link
    • Details link
    • Recommendations (Shows similar items)
    • View online
  8. The View Versions tab on the Brief results page groups together all items that are similar, for example – all copies of the same edition of a book.

 

Library Search is getting better – Journals A-Z

Over the next few weeks you will find that library search will be getting better. The first change you may notice is that the journals A-Z looks different.  Here are some key features that have been upgraded:

1. Simple search box, defaulting to “Contains” with option of “Starts with” and “Exact” – the same set up as existing A-Z but a radio button instead of a drop-down.
search a-z

2. The results are listed with Starts with: instead of page numbers for easier browsing.

start with

3. Access options listed on screen – no need to click on Find it@Royal Holloway

access options on screen

4. Provides additional information for related titles.

additional related resources