Falmouth subscribes to a wide range of online databases. These are large directories of content such as articles, images, market trend reports and scientific papers. They can be used to locate useful journal articles for your essays simply by typing in a name or some keywords that describe your topic.
In many cases these articles will be available to view online. If not, it may be possible to source a copy either on our shelves or from another library (see requests information for Falmouth University requests)
All databases will either provide links to the whole article for you to read, print or download, or will provide enough detail for you to be able to find it in the library or elsewhere.
Using Library databases can save you time and effort compared to searching individual journals or wading through web search results. You should also use academic databases because the information included in the databases will most likely be of a high academic quality.
Have a look at this video about why and when you might want to explore our digital collections at Falmouth rather than just using Library Search or Google Scholar.
Digital collections include academic databases as well as other collections we have including collections of audio-visual material - sometimes with supplementary features and tools to support research in a particular area.
Transcript: When to use digital collections
This video from your library team explains when and why you may want to use digital collections
What are digital collections?
Digital collections are online collections of resources which often focus on a specific subject area or a range of related subject areas. They can be collections of articles chapters audio visual material sometimes with supplementary features and tools to support research in a particular area.Reasons to use digital collections
Digital collections are good for searching for more subject focused content and can save time and effort compared to searching Google. They can also provide more focus than Library Search which has more content to trawl and for you to filter and sort. They're really good for providing high quality academic information.What was that about Library Search?
Library Search is an excellent starting point for your research but you can get a staggering number of results due to all the data the search has access to but more importantly there are some collections and databases which are not included or fully indexed in library search such as some commercially sensitive marketing and business sources and also audio visual collections too.
How to access digital collections
If you really want to hone down on some key resources recommended by specialists then try out some of the databases. You can either go into them individually by your subject pages or use the database search option within Library search. Support with searching studyhub.fxplus.ac.uk (now StudyGuides at libguides.falmouth.ac.uk) for more support with searching check out the study hub the research and finding information section has lots to help you here and library pathways also provides guidance on searching (new version coming soon!) .
You can find details of specialist resources for your subject within the Digital Collections area of your Subject Guides and discover the databases that your Academic Liaison Librarian recommends.
You can also use Library Search, which enables you to search multiple databases from a single search box. Library Search can be a good place to start your search. Be aware though that not every database is searchable via Library Search. The databases that are not searchable include Box of Broadcasts, some of our trends databases and business databases. You can find out more about Library Search by visiting our playlist of support videos.
