When should I use EDS?
EDS is a great place to start your research. It helps you quickly find relevant resources on a subject, without having to decide which database(s) to search. You can limit your search results in a variety of ways, including date range, source type, subject, and scholarly designation. The library's cataloged resources are also integrated into the search results, which makes EDS a good place to check to see if the library has the full text of a journal article or a book that you desire.
What does the 'limit to' function do?
'Limit to' lets you narrow the focus of your search so that the information retrieved from the databases you search is limited according to the values you select. You can use more than one limiter if more than one is available.
What does EDS mean by Date Published?
Use this option to search for articles within a specified date range. Create a range by using the drop-down lists to specify the months of the range and enter the last four digits of the year in the entry fields to specify the years of the range.
What does it mean when an article is referred to as Peer-Reviewed?
Essentially peer review is an academic term for quality control. Each article published in a peer-reviewed journal is closely examined by a panel of reviewers who are experts on the article's topic. The reviewers look for proper use of research methods, significance of the paper’s contribution to the existing literature, and integration of previous authors’ work on the topic in any discussion including citations.
Papers published in these journals are expert-approved and therefore the most authoritative sources of information for college-level research papers. Articles from other popular publications e.g. magazines, newspapers or a number of sites on the Internet are published with minimal editing. While interesting to read, these articles are not sufficient to support research at an academic level. It is best practice to use peer-reviewed articles for assignments.
What is a full-text search?
In a full-text search, a search engine examines all of the words in every stored document as it tries to match search criteria for example, text specified by a user.
What is Full-Text Finder?
This link can sometimes appear under results after carrying out a search on EDS. This means the article is not found within EBSCO Discovery databases, but by clicking on the Full Text Finder link, it will bring you to where the article is hosted. Usually this will be a specific journal homepage and further searching will be required to access the article itself.
Can I create an account on EBSCO Discovery?
Yes, you can set up an account which will allow you to create folders, store articles and set up alerts. On the top right-hand side of the EDS page there is a sign-in option. See below
Select create an account and follow the onscreen instructions. By creating an account this is open up a range of functions that are not available to non-account holding users.