Start your Search includes books, articles and more.
Start your search is powered by EBSCO Discovery Services and combines a variety of library collections, catalogs and databases into a single search experience.
You can use Start your Search on the Library homepage to search across various book and article databases simultaneously. Many article databases, however, aren’t included in that search tool (see more about what’s included). To find the best resources for your topic, you might want to go directly to a specific database.
Find the best database(s) for your research topic:
General article databases are a good place to start since they include both popular and scholarly journal titles covering numerous disciplines. Simply choose one of those databases and type in your keywords to begin to find articles.
Browse for databases by subject (such as Economics, Electrical Engineering, or Art History) if you want to dig deeper into resources covering a specific discipline. If you aren’t sure what subject to choose, look for the academic department that your class is listed under. Once you’ve chosen a subject, search for your topic in one or two of the recommended databases that are listed on the top of the subject list.
Browse for databases by type if you want to find other kinds of formats, such as encyclopedias, newspapers, government information sources, statistics, maps, images and more.
If you have an article citation:
The Citation Linker will look across various databases to find whether or not we have access to the article online or in a journal on the library shelves. You need a journal title and publication date to use the Citation linker. If you don’t have that information try Googling the article title and author name.
There are different style guides for formatting your citations. Ask your instructor which format they prefer, and then follow these links for more information about citation formats in each style:
APA style guide (OWL)
APA guide in print
MLA style guide (OWL)
MLA Handbook in print
MLA Style Manual in print
Chicago style guide (full online, UCB access only)
Chicago Manual in print