Summary: All databases provide help screens and tips on searching on their websites. In addition to Help menus many have downloadable user guides and online tutorials to help you make the best use of the features offered.

University of Aberdeen Library, Special Collections & Museums also produce information to help you make the best use of databases. This page lists links to vodcasts (video-style demos), quick guides to important databases, and worksheets used in our practical library skills workshops. Each worksheet has an example search which clearly shows how to use major features in a specific database.

Vodcasts (video-style demos)

Using BEI (British Education Index)

Using the Scopus Database

Library Guides

ABI/INFORM Complete - Quick Guide

see also ProQuest Advanced Search on ABI/INFORM Complete (for video recorded by ProQuest)

AnthropologyPlus - Quick Guide

Anthrosource - Quick Guide

Art and Architecture Complete - Quick Guide

British Education Index - Quick Guide

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health) - Quick Guide

Cochrane Library

Ebrary

HeinOnline - Quick Guide

IBSS (International Bibliography of the Social Sciences) - Quick Guide

LexisLibrary - Key Features

LexisLibrary - Searching for Case Law

LexisLibrary - Searching for International Legal Journal Articles

LexisLibrary - Searching for UK Journal Articles

LexisLibrary - Searching for Newspaper Articles

Literature Online (LION) - Quick Guide

Medical Library Guide to Finding Information - Quick Guide

Medline and other Ovid databases

ProQuest Advanced Search on ABI/INFORM Complete (by ProQuest on YouTube)

RILM (Abstracts of Music Literature) – Quick Guide

Sociological Abstracts - A Quick Guide

Westlaw UK – Case Law

Westlaw UK – Legislation

Westlaw UK - Quick Guide

Westlaw UK - UK and International Journals

To find out more about the subject coverage and how to search each of these databases (and all the subscription databases made available by the library) do a Find Database search on Primo. Click on the i (information) button available with each record.

Worksheets

Worksheets that guide you through using many of our popular and important electronic databases are available in the Worksheets folder found in the Pages & Files section of this wiki.