Library Research Skills for Biologists

So, how do you find books and eBooks on your research topic? Use Summon, beginning with keywords from your research question. Let's try a search for information about DNA replication in bacteria. To search for a phrase, put each keyword inside quotations. This will tell Summon to search for the words together (as a phrase) rather than separately.

Once you have a results list, you'll notice that a search returns many different types of material. Therefore, you will need to refine your search to books/ebooks. Use the Content Type limiter on the left-side of the screen to limit your results to the Book / eBook format only. To then limit your search result to ebooks only, click on Full Text Online.

Click on the title of the book. This will open the full record and includes important information including the location: the library branch and call number if it is a print book or a link to the online book, if it is an ebook.