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Find quality information

How to find quality information for academic purposes, including databases, specific information formats, Google Scholar and the web, research alerts and evaluating information.

Using Library Search

Library Search is a great place to start to quickly search for quality sources.

books Library Search is the best way to find books, which are a valuable source for many topics.

Specialised databases

You can choose databases that are specialised for particular subjects or types of information. The Library subscribes to hundreds of databases, and there are further databases available for free on the web.

What's included in databases?

You can use databases to search for journal articles. They may also contain other types of information such as conference papers, financial data, legislation, news, theses and audiovisual material.

Databases usually have a "Help" section with a detailed explanation of how to perform searches.

Select a database to search

  • Go to our Database page and use Databases by category to browse by subject. Check the Key resources first.
  • Check our Subject guides - our librarians have selected the most relevant databases in your subject area.

video How to choose the most appropriate database to find articles on your topic (YouTube, 1m49s):

Other sources

You may need to search the internet rather than databases for some sources, such as organisational reports.