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Guide to Information Seeking: Information resources

Information resources and databases

Information resources consist of books, articles, theses, statistics, patents, standards, reference books, laws, specialists etc. Consider what kind of information you need and choose a suitable information resource. Usually several information resources are required to get a successful result.

Search databases to retrieve publications on your topic. While some databases are available online to anyone, most academic databases are limited to those who have access by a license. Turku UAS library has acquired access to many databases that are relevant in Turku UAS studies and research. Databases are available via Turku UAS Finna search service with the right to access for Turku UAS students and staff.

There are different types of databases:

  • A full text database contains both references and full texts. For example in Academic Search Elite the full text can usually be opened as a PDF file, sometimes also in your web browser.

  • A reference database contains references to articles. The references usually include title, author, where and when the article was published, and possibly abstract and subject terms. Reference databases do not necessarily include the actual article in full text. Therefore in order to get hold of the article in full text, you must retrieve it from a full text database, browse print journals or contact interlibrary services. Arto database, for example, usually contains only references:

  • A citation database contains information on citations, about sources and how they are cited. It enables you to count citations and check, for example, which articles or journals are the most cited ones.

NB: Most databases are combinations of different types of databases. In a typical database, some of the articles are in full text, others have only reference information and an abstract.

In most databases you can limit your search to include only full text articles. Use this option with caution, as an interesting article may be available in another database acquired for Turku UAS users.

See more information on article search in the  Article guide.

Google helps you find everyday information online quickly and easily, but with scholarly information needs Google is not enough:

  • Google and other search engines can only find a small amount of information on the Internet. The parts of the web that are not indexed by standard search engines is called the deep web. The deep web contains most of the scholarly databases behind the pay walls.
  • The same search can produce different results to different people because Google uses personification depending on the user's language, location and search history.
  • Search results that Google provides can change quickly because the web is being updated continuously.
  • The quality of the information found by Google varies. Anyone can publish anything on the Internet, and therefore you need skills to evaluate information sources critically.
  • Google uses relevance principles when sorting out the search result. The search results are arranged depending on by the popularity of the web page and the amount of hyperlinks provided. A good source is not always popular, so it cannot necessarily be found in the first pages of the search result list.

Scholarly information skills include skills to identify databases of your own field of study as well as knowledge of methods on how to search information in a systematical way.

Turku UAS Finna and national Finna.fi

All the electronic and printed materials acquired for Turku UAS students and staff as well as Turku UAS theses can be found via Turku UAS Finna:

  • books and e-books
  • journals, e-journals and e-articles
  • theses and e-theses
  • hyperlinks to databases and other e-resources
  • musical scores, movies and sound recordings

Browse databases and journals by content type in Turku UAS Finna.

 

Turku UAS library use Finna as the search interface, the same one as many other Finnish libraries, archives and museums. The organization-specific Finna sites provide access to materials acquired by these individual organizations. National Finna.fi is the one stop platform for searching materials provided by partner libraries, archives and museums. 

Please note that Finna.fi contains only open access material, not  electronic resources licensed by organizations. This is why it is advisable to start your search with Turku UAS Finna, which provides access to all the materials acquired for Turku UAS students and staff.

Google Scholar Search

Google Scholar is a scholarly literature search engine provided by Google. Search result consist of dissertations, presentations, books, summaries, conference publications and articles published by academic publishers, communities, universities and other scientific organizations.

Google Scholar is good for scanning and preparatory information seeking, in exploring what sort of  information is available before the actual systematic information search.

Besides you can check with Google Scholar, whether a particular scholarly article has an open access version, usually through parallel publishing in an OA repository. You find the OA versions by clicking All versions / Kaikki versiot.

However, Google Scholar does not include all scholarly publications, although it helps you to choose journals or databases available in Turku UAS Finna that are worth looking into more closely.

Google Scholar advanced search

Google Scholar offers advanced search in addition to basic search. Click the symbol on the top left to use advanced search. It allows you to refine your search for example by publishing year or author.

 

Google Scholar finds open access materials as well as some materials with restricted access. Google Scholar library links enables you to access the full text articles provided by Turku UAS. Please note that Google Scholar does not include all the library databases.

Library links inside Turku UAS network

If you are inside Turku UAS network your search result includes Fulltext - Turku UAS hyperlinks. By clicking the hyperlink you have access to Link resolver service. Via fulltext hyperlink you can access the databases that Turku UAS provides you and read the article.

Activate library links outside Turku UAS network

1. Go to Google Scholar and click symbol on the top left. Open Settings and choose Library links.

2. Search for Turku University of Applied Sciences and save your settings.

3. Your search result includes now full text articles acquired for Turku UAS students and staff. By clicking the link Fulltext - Turku UAS you will be redirected to Link resolver. Click the link to access the database and read the full text article.

 

About this guide

This guide aims to support Turku UAS students and staff in searching information. It is a major part of the study material in the Information Skills Online Course.

Turku UAS Finna search

 

Find books, e-books, databases, journals, e-journals, theses, music, movies

Search materials from other libraries

Do you need help?

Contact Library at the Turku University of Applied Sciences by email library@turkuamk.fi.

We are happy to help you!

Usage rights of the guide

Creative Commons -lisenssi
This publication has been licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license