E-resources we pay for and some free sources recommended by subject specialists are included in our search tool: SOLO.
SOLO is the official search tool for the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford. It allows searching of around 13 million library items, 3 million Electronic Legal Deposit e-books and journal articles, the theses and articles stored in ORA, and research articles from journals subscribed to by the University. A specialist map search is also available.
If you want to consult a specific database you can search for it on SOLO.
If you are unsure which databases could be useful for you, take a look at online guidance provided by your subject librarian or use the databases A-Z which groups databases by subject and type of content.
If you want to find articles without specifying a particular database use SOLO.
See the SOLO User Guide for basic information. To explore journals or databases by subject you can use the Databases A-Z or the E-Journals A-Z, or subject guides online. For deeper advice on where and how to search consult your librarian.
Google Scholar provides a very similar service to SOLO's Articles search and much of the content is the same. The Bodleian Libraries subscribe to the Primo Central Index which is a curated service bringing together content from many publishers and databases. Google Scholar gathers its content from many of the same publishers in an automated way using search algorithms.. The Bodleian Libraries also supplement the index with additional local content (e.g. online articles received via legal deposit, items from the Oxford Research Archive) to create SOLO's Article search.
If you are on a library computer or using the University's VPN you will notice that some results show a FindIt@Oxford link on the right where you also often see links to open access versions of the paper.
This is because the Bodleian Libraries have shared information about our subscriptions with Google in order to make your access easier. To ensure you see the FindIt@Oxford links wherever you are, sign in to Google and set up the University of Oxford in your Library Links within Settings.
We offer a workshop to current students on searching Google for Academic Research. Check out the handouts for latest tips & advice.
In our class we also cover searching Google - check out the video below:
You can also read a transcript of the video or follow instructions in Powerpoint.
Even Google has an advanced search option! After you've run a search it's under 'Settings'. You can use quote marks " to search for particular phrases or filter by region, language, date.
You can also use it to search a particular domain - say you want to know what the UK government has written about deworming - you can put .gov.uk in the 'site or domain' box (only one domain at a time, sadly). You can dictate that your search terms appear in the title of the page, or the url, not just somewhere in the text. You can also restrict the file type, so if you're looking for reports, PDFs would be a good bet.
A-Z list of e-journals can be filtered by subject if you would like to browse e-journals in your subject area.
Please note, this lists the journals we subscribe to online, not in print.
All journals are included in SOLO.
We offer a workshop on searching Google for Academic Research. Check out the handouts for latest tips & advice.
