Where to search

Library search is a great place to start for general research. You will see books, eBooks, journal articles, videos and more all in one place. (Duration: 1:22)

This video demonstrates some of the features of Library Search. You will see how to filter results after doing a search and access online resources and physical items. (Duration: 3:31)

Library databases are comprehensive collections of material often related to a particular study area such as Business, Law or Health. La Trobe Library pays for many databases so you can access them for free. This video points out the advantages of using databases and explains where you can access them. (Duration: 2:01)

Most of us use Google so you may want to try using Google Scholar for scholarly or academic material. Some of the advantages of Google Scholar are:

• A familiar, simple search interface
• A large amount of scholarly information from all academic disciplines
• Comprehensive list of other items that have cited each search result.

While it can be a good place to start your research on a topic, it should not be the only place, as it also has some disadvantages:

• Not all search results will be peer-reviewed
• There is no filter to show only peer-reviewed results
• There are less filtering and advanced search options than academic databases
• Not all results will be available to you.

To access search results that are available through La Trobe Library go to the menu in the top-left of the screen then Settings > Library Links > add ‘La Trobe University Library’ > Save. After doing this you will see 'Full Text @ La Trobe' next to search results that you can access.

Google does have information about search operators for advanced searching. You can also add search results to 'My Library' with the Save option to keep track of things you read.

Still have questions? Do you want to talk to an expert? Librarians are available.