 The University of Alabama Libraries collection includes millions of scholarly articles and books, thousands of journals and periodicals, and hundreds of databases, along with multimedia items, government documents, and manuscripts. So how do you go about finding what you need? Hello, my name is Catherine. I'm a librarian at the University of Alabama and in this video I'm going to introduce you to several tools that will help you access UA Libraries extensive collection, whether you are on or off campus. Starting from the UA Libraries homepage at libraries.ua.edu, you'll see the one search bar at the top of the home page. It can run a simple keyword search and will return some results from UA's holdings and the library's website. For most projects, you'll have better results if you search with the other tools mentioned in this video. Our primary search tool is SCOUT, which searches the library's catalog, our databases, and the digital collections, all in a single search. SCOUT looks for keywords by default. The advanced search mode has drop-down menus that let you search by title, author, and some other parameters. Use the and or not menu to narrow or broaden your terms. You can refine results in the sidebar on the left side of the screen, the scholarly peer reviewed journals limiter, and the publication date selector are particularly useful. Here's how to access items in the search results. Use the location and call number to find a book on the shelf in one of our branches. This result here links directly to the PDF full text. Some results have a full text finder link. Click this to see if we have a digital copy available. If not, just make a quick interlibrary loan request to receive a PDF. As the all-in-one search tool for UA Libraries, SCOUT is a great place to begin exploring a topic and discovering what's available. But for more in-depth research, you'll need to explore specific databases. We'll look at those now. Databases are large collections of specialized content like academic journals, news, statistics, and even streaming video. They are often subject-specific, so choosing a database devoted to your area of interest is a helpful first step for narrowing down your search results. UA Libraries provides access to hundreds of databases. You can use the drop-down menus to find a database by subject or type. You can also find a database by using the A to Z index or search bar. The subject, scope, and range of a database are described below each title. The linked title will take you to that database's landing page. Databases vary in terms of interface and organization. Some look a lot like SCOUT, others will have different options and search functions designed specifically for their content. While each database may look a little different, they generally have the same functionality, advanced searching using menus and limiters, and the ability to save, download, and cite items. And because each database has unique content, advanced research may require searching in multiple databases. The eJournal's link lets you browse our electronic journal and book holdings by subject area. You can search by journal title, making this the fastest way to find complete issues of specific journals. Just search for the title, click full text access to see what's available, and find the volume you want. Most are organized by year. From here, you can directly access the content. You can also browse by subject area and limit your results by resource type to view either eBooks or journals. The Libraries catalog searches UA's permanent collection. Books, government documents, periodicals, multimedia items, rare books, primary documents, microfilm, and so on. Searching the library's catalog is a convenient way to find materials by title or author. Click on a title from the results to see that item's catalog record, location, and availability status. Not charged means it's available. Use the request item link to take advantage of our document delivery service or request an item from off-campus storage. Try clicking on a subject heading to find even more sources on your topic. If you prefer searching with Google Scholar, try using our dedicated link. That way, your search results will include direct links to any items available through UA libraries. To recap, you can use Scout as an all-in-one search tool for UA libraries to locate articles, books, and other resources. You can search specialized databases individually for in-depth subject specific research. Use the eJournal's link to find electronic journals and books by title. If you're looking for a book by title, author, or to browse by subject, try the library's catalog. For assistance navigating the search tools and accessing the amazing breadth of resources available from UA libraries, check out Ask a Librarian at ask.lib.ua.edu for FAQs or to chat with a librarian. Thanks for watching.