Library tutorial for science

To succeed in essays and course work, you need to move beyond simple information searching on the Web and this tutorial helps you do that. Although its exercises are not marked, lecturers and library staff will assume that you know the tutorial's contents. Medical students doing Biology I should do the MBBS tutorial not this Science tutorial.

Section 1. The Library Web site

Look at the Library Web site to find out about the Library. Note the tabs for Library A to Z, the Catalogue, Databases and Resource guides (Subject guides).

Section 2. Searching for known books and known journal articles in the Library catalogue

Have you been given a list of books and journals?
Search for them in the Library catalogue.
A. Interpret the citations first: do they refer to books, book chapters or journal articles?
B. Find a book or book chapter in the Title, Author or Keyword options.
C. Find a journal article in the Journal or Newspaper Title option.
See also Library catalogue search hints summary.

Section 3: Getting a topic overview

Do you have an essay topic you don't know much about?
Start by getting an idea of the topic through science reference sources and web sites. Use the Library's Resource guides and search engines. Learn to look critically at Web information.

Section 4: Searching for books on a topic in the Library catalogue

Have you been given an essay topic but no list of books to read?
Search the Keyword (use and,or,not," ") or Guided Keyword Search or Subject Heading to find books in the Library and electronic books. Supplement your search with Google Books.
See also Library catalogue search hints summary.

Section 5: Searching for journal articles on a topic in databases

Do you need more detail or more recent information or a review article summarising developments?
Use databases, because you cannot search the Library catalogue for individual articles on a topic.

Section 6: Citing information in essays

Where can you find help in writing essays and citing references?

If you need more help using databases or the Library catalogue, ask first at the Information desk.