Find quality resources
To assist your quest to find quality, scholarly information, here are two recommended strategies:
- Use the Deakin Library Search available on the Library front page.
This ensures that you have access to the scholarly resources Deakin has arranged for you, including those provided via purchased subscriptions. - Get familiar with using Advanced Search available by clicking the Advanced Search button.
Note that Advanced Searching techniques are described on a separate page in this guide.
Find the key databases for Engineering
Deakin subscribes to a large number of databases that you can use for your study and research. It's a long list!
However, you can filter the list to locate specific databases.
Here are the steps:
- Go to the Deakin's list of databases available on the A-Z databases page.
- Press the "Filter" button
- To restrict the list to Engineering relevant databases, look in the "Limit by subject" area and click the "Engineering and design" button
- If you wish, you can add more filters, including restricting the database list by format and access type.
The resources section of this guide contains lists of recommended databases for engineering generally, as well as each engineering discipline/stream. Use the menu on the left side of this page to access these lists.
Using Google and Google Scholar
Google's shaping of search results is well documented and it will affect your results. This doesn't mean you shouldn't use Google or Google Scholar, you just need to ensure these are not the only tools used in your search strategy. Be cautious and ensure you draw from discipline-specific databases also.
Be aware and beware...
Here are some reasons to be cautious when using Google and Google Scholar to search for relevant, credible, academic resources:
- Search results are not ranked according to your search criteria alone. This is because Google shapes search results based on what it knows about you from your previous searching activity.
- Search results can be influenced by wider interests including business, marketing, and political activity.
- Google Scholar results include non-academic and non-peer reviewed material.