Finding information

Library Search: your window to millions of resources. 

The first place you should start your search is Library Search.  You can use it to find books and journal articles or to find a wide range of resources on a topic.  It searches the Aldgate and Holloway Road libraries, as well as our Special Collections and Archives, the London Metropolitan University Repository and many of of the online databases we subscribe to. 

Remember to click Log in to my account to get full access to all our amazing resources.

There are four different search options on the Library Search home page:

Don't miss out on some great resources

Many of our online resources or databases can be searched via the main Library Search tab- but not all of them.  So while it's great to start your research with the Library Search tab you will also need to use other library online resources too.  

The A-Z of Library e-resources gives a complete list of all the resources the library pays for so that you can access a broad range of high quality research.

Explore A-Z library e-resources

You can browse the list of resources, or search by title.  You can also filter by subject or type (e.g. journals, market research, legal information etc).

In Library Search? 

Next to each resource you will see a green or yellow tab.  This will indicate whether results from these resources will show when searching Library Search.  If it says 'not in library search' you will need to go directly to these resources and search there.

What's recommended for my subject?

Your subject guide will provide a list of key e-resources for your subject area.  

⚠ Don't forget! Using the links provided on the Library platforms will let you log into our online resources as a member of the University, and give you full access to all the resources we pay for. Attempting to access resources directly through your browser or Google may lead to you being asked to pay for content, when you don't need to.

Key recommended reading and resources chosen by your lecturers

You can find the online reading list for your module on Weblearn. Each of your modules will have a Weblearn site. Look for the "Reading List" link.

Or do search for a reading list by module code or title using the quick search box below:

Reading List

Search for lists, modules & courses

Proceed with caution!

As we have mentioned, it's best to use academic sources in your work and the best place to find these are via Library Search or subject databases. Whilst Google can be used effectively as an additional search tool it should not be your first port of call when looking for information for your assignments. 

However you may need additional information found openly on the internet like Government reports, information from professional organisations and companies or general facts and statistics.  Just remember that if you found it on the internet you need to be even more critical with your evaluation- only use reliable and credible sources.  Check out our evaluation page for tips. 

Top tips:

✨ LibKey Nomad is a great tool which helps you to easily find scholarly journal articles.  When you are searching on the web, Nomad lets you know if any of the content is available from our library subscriptions or open access alternatives.  All you need to do is add an extension to your web browser. 

Go to libkeynomad.com, select your browser at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions to add the extension. When prompted, select London Metropolitan University as your organisation. When searching the web look out for the Nomad button to link you to the article.

✨ In your Google search add site:ac.uk to your search to find results from university and academic institutions or site:gov.uk to find results from Government institutions.  e.g. diversity in higher education site:ac.uk or small business enterprises site:gov.uk

Freely available scholarly research

There has been a growing movement in recent years to make scholarly content available as Open Access (OA), meaning freely available online for all to read. 

CORE is the biggest database for searching across Open Access repositories to find this freely available academic content. 

It is important to remember that not all publishers support Open Access; in fact, many don't, and will not allow authors publishing with them to make their work freely available. Therefore, CORE and other open internet resources should only be used in conjunction with the library databases. The Library pays for subscriptions to allow you to access content which sits behind paywalls. 

Start by noting down which words you will use to search.  These are known as keywords or search terms.

• Identify any keywords or concepts from your topic/assignment title; think about any related terms.
• Consider synonyms / similar words that might be alternatives (e.g. marketing / advertising / promotion)
• Are there any broader terms to expand your search or more specific terms to narrow it? (e.g. teenage boy is more specific than young people)
• Are there any variations in spelling?  Can the word have alternative endings? (e.g. behavior (US) vs behaviour (UK); advert, advertising, advertisments)
• Are there terms that need to be kept together as a phrase? (e.g. purchasing decisions)
• Are there any countries you want to focus on?

Once you have got your search results, look for an option to filter.  This will help you to narrow down your search (fewer, more specific results).  

The icon may look like a funnel or a triangle pointing downwards.

The filters will vary depending on your search results and the database/platform you are searching.  But you may find options like these:

Advanced search: AND, OR, NOT

Look for an advanced search option.  This can help you to effectively combine your keywords using linking words AND, OR and NOT (Boolean search operators), making it easier to construct advanced searches.

Phrase searching

Use “double quotation” marks to search for a phrase e.g. “supply chain management”.

Get fast access to scholarly articles

LibKey Nomad is a great tool which helps you to easily find scholarly journal articles.  When you are searching on the web, Nomad lets you know if any of the content is available from our library subscriptions or open access alternatives. 

All you need to do is add an extension to your web browser. 

Go to libkeynomad.com, select your browser at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions to add the extension. When prompted, select London Metropolitan University as your organisation. 

When searching the web look out for the Nomad button to link you to the article.

Wildcards and Truncation

This is useful if you have alternative spellings or endings.  The operator (e.g. ? / # / *) may vary depending on the database you are using.  So always check the help pages on that database.  The below work for Library Search.

?    The question mark can refer to any letter. Example, search for "ne?t" will return results with neat, nest, or next.
#    Useful for alternate spellings. Finds words that have or don't have a letter in place of the #. Example, search "colo#r will return results with color or colour
*    Use the asterisk to search for root words. Example, search "comput* will return results of computer or computer. 

Field Searching

Often under the Advanced search you will be able to select where you want the search term to be located.  For example to narrow down your search you could search for the keyword in the title of the results or the abstract (summary).