Books
Use the information in the citations on your reading lists or in other bibliographies to search iDiscover for title keywords. Adding distinctive details such as the year of publication and the author or editor surname will refine the search. If you have a choice of names, favour unusual names/words to narrow the search. Setting up an 'Advanced search' and limiting by Library location or material type will also help to retrieve more accurate results.
Journal articles
Most journal articles that are referenced on reading lists are available electronically. Login with Raven and use the links in your reading lists. If you don't have the links you can type the journal article title straight into iDiscover using the 'Articles and online resources' radio button. From here you can click on 'Full text available' to get to the publisher’s page and download a PDF of the article.
If you can't find the article indexed in iDiscover can check whether the journal is available online for the relevant date by searching for the journal title in the A-Z list and clicking through to the full record. If the relevant year is covered, click on the link to the journal and click through to the correct volume/year and issue/number, to find and read the article.
Not all journals are fully available online. You can also search 'Cambridge Libraries Collections' in iDiscover to find a library with a print copy of the title.
Use iDiscover or one of the abstract and indexing databases listed on the Home tab to carry out a subject search. These pages can help you to think about where to search and how to search effectively.
In addition to subscription databases such as Arctic and Antarctic Regions or Web of Science, you can also try Google Scholar which can help you to find a very broad range of resources. Downloading Lean Library will help to deliver the resources you have access to through a Cambridge subscription, regardless of where you are searching. Always try a combination of resources to make sure that you have pursued all avenues of access.
For questions about e-resources, (journals, ebooks, databases) see these Frequently Asked Questions or get in touch with a member of library staff.