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Search and evaluate information

How to search for material

There are many different sources to get information from. Think about what information you need and what sources might be useful. A good place to start your search is the Search bar on the library's website.

Search for books and e-books

You can search for books in the Search bar on the library's website. Limit on the left of the page to E-books & printed books.

You can also search for books in LIBRIS, Sweden's national library catalogue. You can find in books in swedish as well as english.

 

Search LIBRIS

 

Chalmers' e-books are always available and can be read by many people at the same time. They can be reached from home if you have a Chalmers ID (CID). If you do not have a CID, you can read e-books on the library's public computers.

Different e-book platforms:

  • De Gruyter online - E-books and some journals from De Gruyter with imprints such as Birkhäuser. Includes many titles in architecture & design. In English and German.
  • Ebook Central - E-books from ProQuest.
  • Skillport - E-books in information technology, engineering, business and finance. Formerly called Books24x7.
  • Taylor & Francis ebooks - E-books and reference works from Taylor & Francis incl. CRC Press.
  • Wiley online library - E-journals, e-books & reference works from the publisher Wiley.

Scientific search engines

When you are about to start writing a thesis or have another task where you need to read up on the subject, it can be good to start with an encyclopedia to sort out terms and concepts. Wikipedia is a good start and today the facts are mostly correct. But keep in mind that a wikipedia article can have several different authors with different purposes and that information can be added or removed as you write your text. A wikipedia article is therefore not suitable as a reference, instead always look up the original source. AccessScience is a scientific encyclopedia in the fields of technology that is better used as a reference.

When you have learned the terms and concepts of the subject, it is time to search for scientific articles. Google Scholar is a free search engine that is included in the library's database list. Google Scholar searches the web and locates scholarly material. But in order to access the full text, you must be logged in to the Chalmers network or with your CID when you are off campus. If you are not logged in, you sometimes only access summaries or abstracts. Also keep in mind that anyone can upload material to Google Scholar and that it is not always peer-reviewed. It is also difficult to do deeper, more detailed searches so see Google Scholar as a supplement to searching the scientific databases we have listed below so as not to miss valuable information.

Another academic search engine is BASE – Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, one of the world's most comprehensive search engines for academic material. It is maintained by the Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld and searches for open access resources.

Search for scientific material

You can search for scientific articles in the Search bar on the library's website, limit to articles. Chalmers' library also has access to a large number of databases that you can search in. To find the most useful databases for your program, see the respective subject guide. In the tab Databases (to the right), we have listed some of the largest interdisciplinary databases.

  • Scopus -  One of the large, important scientific article databases, containing quality-reviewed literature in all scientific fields. Bibliometric database.
  • SciFinder - Database of chemical and related scientific information. Search for substances and reactions, or patent and article references.
  • Web of Science -  A large and important article database with quality-reviewed literature in all scientific fields. Has a citation index.
  • ProQuest dissertations & theses - Doctoral theses in all subject areas. Full text from 1997. Coverage is international but with an emphasis on North America. Chalmers has access to selected parts.
  • Espacenet: patent search - National and international patent information from the European Patent Office.

When you can't find what you are looking for

Request articles and books free of charge that are not already available at Chalmers' library.