Where to search

findit@flinders

findit@flinders is the Library's main search tool. It captures all the physical and online resources provided by the Library to support the learning, teaching and research activities of the University.
 

What does it search?

findit@flinders searches across a wide range of academic, research and professional resources. This includes:

• Books, eBooks and book chapters
• Journal articles (including peer reviewed articles)
• Videos and audio
• Reference entries
• Reports
• News
• Theses
• and more...

Why use findit@flinders?

Use findit@flinders when you want to:

• Find a specific book or article.
• Search broadly across different types of sources.
• Access the full text of resources without having to pay.

Limitations to be aware of

• Searches across many collections at once, so results can be very broad.
  What you can do: Use filters such as by resource type or publication date.
• Matches search terms to words within metadata about resources (i.e. title and abstract rather than the full text).
  What you can do: Search for concepts that would likely be referred to in these sections. 

Databases

Databases are collections of academic, research and professional information resources. They have advanced search features to help users find the information they need. They are often produced by commercial publishers and are subscribed to by the Library for you to access. 

What do they search?

Each database has its own coverage and focus. This may include:

• All subjects
  These are known as multidisciplinary databases. They typically search across a variety of high quality, credible academic sources such as journal articles, reports, theses, etc. 
• A specific subject area (e.g. health, law, business)
  
• A specific type of resource (e.g. news, statistics)

Why use databases?

Databases are useful when you want to:

• Find academic, peer reviewed sources.
• Find sources relevant to a specific discipline.
• Use precise search options and filters.

Limitations to be aware of

• Each database only searches within its own collection.
  What you can do: Look at the description of the database to see if it covers the information you want.
• Interfaces and search features differ between databases.
  What you can do: Look for any help or search tips. 
• There can be a learning curve when using databases for the first time. 
  What you can do: Check out the guide on How to search databases to familiarise yourself with how databases work. 

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a free search engine designed to find academic literature. It gathers information about resources from:

• Databases that agree to allow Google to 'see' their index of resources.
• Repositories of open access resources (e.g. arXiv, SSRN).
• University repositories that index publications by academic and research staff.

What does it search?

• Journal articles
• Pre-print articles - these are articles that have been accepted for publication but have not yet been formally published
• Books and book chapters
• Conference papers
• Theses

Why use Google Scholar?

• Familiar and intuitive search. 
• Quickly find academic sources.
• Good starting point to see the scope of literature on a topic.
• Can see how many times an article has been cited - can use this to find more recent literature on the same topic.

Limitations to be aware of

• You may be asked to pay to view the full text of sources.
  What you can do: Access Google Scholar through the Library - this will allow you to access the full text where available.
• Cannot filter to peer reviewed sources.
  What you can do: Use findit@flinders or a database which does have this feature.
  See the guide to Peer reviewed sources for more information and advice. 
• May capture non-academic sources, such as student essays.
  What you can do: Use findit@flinders or a database where you can be confident about the quality of sources chosen to be indexed.

Google and other search engines

Google is a general web search engine. It searches publicly available content from websites. 
 

Why use Google?

Google can be useful when you want to find sources that have not been formally published. This includes:

• Government reports and policy information.
• Reports of research institutions and other organisations. 
• Professional and industry guidelines or policies.

It is also useful when you want:

• Background information on a topic.
• A quick definition.
• Information about current events.

Limitations to be aware of

• Number of results can be overwhelming.
  What you can do: Use Advanced search for options such as searching within a site or domain, file type (e.g. PDF for reports).
• Results need careful evaluation.
  
• Ranking is not based on academic quality.

Artificial intelligence search tools

These are search tools that utilise the power of artificial intelligence to help you find scholarly sources. They include publisher databases and free tools.
 

What do they search?

These tools search for academic resources, often peer reviewed. 

• Databases search across content that it has indexed or provides access to. 
• Free tools search across open access indexes of scholarly content (e.g. arXiv, SSRN).

Why use AI search tools?

• Easy to search by simply entering a research question.
• Read an overview of the top sources to get a sense for the topic. 
• Get ideas for search terms to use when searching databases. 

Limitations to be aware of

• May only list a handful of sources.
  What to do: See if there is a link to a full set of results from the database, or search another database as well to get a wider range of references. 
• Overviews may misinterpret the original source.
  What to do: Follow the link to the original source to check and increase your understanding.
• Overviews are not an academic source and should not be referenced. 
  What to do: Follow the links to the original sources referenced in the overview.

Generative artificial intelligence tools (e.g. Copilot Chat)

Text GenAI tools like Copilot Chat and ChatGPT have the option to search the web. 

Sometimes, this will be a simple feature where the tool gives a reference to a webpage for information that it has provided. 

Other tools offer a 'deep research' option. This is an example of an 'agentic' tool - it works through a series of steps to research websites, analyse the information gathered, and produce a report with citations. 
 

What do GenAI tools search?

GenAI tools search the same content as Google - free content available on the web. 
 

Why use GenAI tools?

Like Google, these tools can be useful where you want to find definitions, background information, or an overview of a topic, concept, issue or event.

You can also ask these tools to find specific types of information, such as statistics or guidelines or policies. 
 

Limitations to be aware of

• Only finds sources that are freely available online - this does not include the vast majority of scholarly, academic publications. 
  What to do: Use a search tool that captures scholarly sources, such as findit@flinders or a database. 
• Overviews may misinterpret the original source.
  What to do: Follow the link to the original source to check and increase your understanding.