Learn more study skills
Study hacks are a series of workshops for new and returning students throughout term. These sessions will help you develop key skills you need to succeed at UNSW.
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Library collection
Refine my results in the left column, helps focus your search by:
Topics
Creator (author)
Date
Collection
You can also check item records for more information:
Availability and location
Link for online version
Publisher
Place of publication
Date of publication
Item records may also include other editions or formats of an item, e.g. an online version or a video.
Where is it?
All items on Library shelves have item numbers.
Search the Library collection to find the item number and location.
Learn more:
Library locations, under
the UNSW information tab
More on your topic
To find more information on your topic, check if the author of a text on your list of course resources has written other books on the same subject:
- search for the author in a catalogue or database
- click on the author's name to find other works
Finding journal articles
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Finding journal articles
If you are looking for the most current information on a subject, try searching for a journal. Like popular magazines, they are published on an ongoing basis, so it’s easy to find the newest information available.
The scholarly or academic journals that the library subscribes to contain articles relevant to your university studies, so using them also avoids the clutter of a web search engine.
Many journal articles are peer-reviewed which means they are reviewed by experts in the author's field of research.
Some areas, such as business or engineering, for example, may also require trade journals published by relevant industry bodies.
To find a journal article using a citation from your reading list, search the Library collection for the title of the article.
If the article does not appear in your search results, try searching for the journal title.
When searching the Library collection, you can narrow down your results using Refine My Results / Resource Types to only include hits from journals only.
If you don’t have a specific journal in mind, try searching for keywords in a subject specific database for more results. Key databases are listed in the Subject Guides on the Library website.
Alternative access: If you cannot watch the above video on the YouTube platform, access via Stream.
Connecting to full text
The full text of many journal articles can be accessed online. This means that you can download a complete article, including diagrams and illustrations via a link to the full text or PDF version of the article.
To find articles with full text, search a relevant database using keywords.
Learn more about choosing and searching relevant databases on the Databases page, under the Discover tab.
Your database search will display a list of records. Some of these records may provide the full text of articles. You can connect to the full text by clicking on PDF or full-text links if they are available.
If an article has no PDF or full-text link, click the Find It link to connect to the article via other databases.
Check under View It to find databases that can connect you to full-text articles. If more than one database is listed, select the one with the date you need.
If no database links to full text are displayed, try searching for the journal title in the Library collection to see if UNSW Library holds it in print.
What if you can't find it?
Check that the spelling is correct:
- are there alternative spellings?
- did you type it correctly?
- is the spelling correct on your list of course resources?
Is the item you are looking for out on loan?
- check to see if there is another copy at a different location
- is there an earlier edition? Check for other versions of the item in the Library collection.
Note - your lecturer may require you to look at a specific edition
- check to see if there is another copy in another library, e.g. State Library of NSW, University of Sydney Library
Use Trove, the catalogue of the National Library of Australia, to search all Australian library catalogues
- try searching Google Scholar. You may be able to find the full text of some articles via the Findit @ UNSW links
Set up Google Scholar Library Links via Scholar Settings
If you have tried all the options above and are still unable to locate the article, eligible students can request a copy on interlibrary loan
For further assistance:
- ask a question using Library chat
- or visit a Library Help Zone