Search catalogues and databases

Search the Library

 Announcement Try our search tools LibKey Nomad and LibKey IO to help you get to articles quickly.

See more details

How to find books and e-books

Use LibrarySearch to find out what books (print and e-books), DVDs, videos, print journals, teaching materials and other items are held by the Library. Learn how to use Library search with the following guides:

For help with reading and downloading e-books, check our E-books page.

How to search using keywords

You can use the same general principles of searching for any subject database, LibrarySearch, and even Google.

  • In the search box, type your keyword e.g. football.
  • You can type in more than one keyword: you can either type them in the same box or you can type them in separate search boxes if the database has them.
Every database will have its own search tips and help section.

Get help

Library staff are always ready to help you with guidance on how to search for and use resources. Visit the Library Help Zone, JHB Level 1 (Library Enquiry Desks at other Brookes libraries).

libraryenquiries@brookes.ac.uk

How to search databases for journal articles

As well as the multidisciplinary content in LibrarySearch, you can find more journal articles on a topic in a database.

All databases will give you the bibliographic information (e.g. author, title, journal name) about an article, some will give you an abstract (brief summary) of the article, and some will also give you the full text as well.

To find the most appropriate database for your topic, go to your course resource help page to see which databases are suggested by your Academic Liaison Librarian.

LibKey Nomad, search assistant

Try our new browser plugin, Nomad, to get direct access to journal articles from a variety of websites. If your research journey results in an ‘access denied’ dead end on a publisher's site, Nomad can help. Nomad will work from your browser and beat the paywall by taking you to a library approved copy of the article. Nomad also displays clear links to articles within databases like PubMed and Wikipedia.

What is Nomad?

Nomad is a browser plugin that gets you library provided copies of articles you find on the web.

Nomad offers:

  • Direct access to PDF and HTML articles
  • Fast and precise linking from thousands of publisher's websites
  • Open access content where subscriptions are not available.

How do I get Nomad?

Nomad is available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave and Vivaldi.

Follow our easy to read PDF instructions to install Nomad.

LibKey IO, instant search using DOI or PMID

Use this search for quick access to articles using DOI or PMID identifiers.

  • Put the DOI or PMID in the search box
  • Set your preferred format, PDF, Article Link or both
  • Get your article
  • If no access is available, LibKey.io will direct you to other library access options.
LibKey logo

Lookup a journal article by DOI or PMID

Want to bookmark the direct article search? Link to the Brookes LibKey IO page .