E-resources Guide: Home

You can access an enormous range of electronic resources from your library, including:

• 25,000 + e-journals
• 100 + research databases - these cover a range of index and full text options (see more on this in the 'searching e-resources' section)
• Streaming platforms for educational and leisure viewing

There are, of course, far too many for us to list here! However, here are a few highlights:

• Web of Science - an index to selected journals, conference papers, and book series across all subject areas
• SpringerMaterials - provides curated data and functionalities to support researchers in materials science, chemistry, energy, engineering, physics, and other related fields, with 290,000 + materials and 3,000 _ properties.
• SCOPUS - an index to journals and conference papers across all subject areas
• PressReader - provides unlimited access to 9,000 digital newspapers and magazines from 120 countries in 60 languages
• Kanopy - search, browse, and stream 24,000 + films, documentaries, tv series, and instructional videos from over 700 international suppliers, covering over 100 academic subject areas

Each platform has its own look and feel, and it's worth taking time to familiarise yourself with these features when you start using e-resources. This will help to enhance your learning experience and make studying more comfortable and efficient!

For more information about e-resources in your area of study, please refer to your subject page (linked on our homepage) or talk to your Subject Librarian. Our Librarian team can also give you guidance on specialist databases and platforms.

E-resources have significant potential to customise settings to best support your individual needs. Platforms may have options to adjust font / zoom, to utilise Read Aloud software, and to select different background shades and contrast levels. Each platform will have its own accessibility options and guidance, and it's worth exploring the support pages of each as you use them.

For more support with your accessibility needs during your studies, please see the Library's guide for students and staff with disabilities. We also encourage you to contact your Academic Advisor and / or the University of Bath Disability Service. 

For guidance on your modules' reading lists (and beyond!), check out our library lists and finding your readings pages. 

Ahead of commencing a literature search, we recommend reading through our introduction to literature searching and, once you are familiar with the foundational principles, our overview of advanced literature searching will support you in levelling up your skills. 

Tips for searching e-resources

The library catalogue contains many thousands of listings, and it's therefore worthwhile ensuring that you take the following steps in order to enhance your search results:

• Use the category facets underneath the search bar to pinpoint the format that you are looking for (e.g. books, articles, journals, databases, or video)
• Use the 'journal search' or 'database search' options at the top of the page to conduct searches that are specific to these fields
• Use the 'advanced search' option to specify material, date range, and language, and to search by the resource's barcode
• Toggle on the 'expand my results' option in 'filter my results' to widen your search beyond our catalogue
• Some publishers do not allow article level linking. Therefore, if you find that the link from our catalogue takes you to the e-journal's home page, try navigating to the relevant issue / volume to source the article that you are looking for 
• When using the catalogue, it's helpful to sign into your university account via Single Sign On (SSO) since this will enable you to:
  • Personalise your searches by using the 'personalise' toggle to select your preferred disciplines
  • Save resources and search terms using the 'pin' icon, then retrieve your pinned items in your 'saved items'. This can be especially helpful for when you are building your references (check out our referencing guide for more information on this).

Catalogue vs web searches 

You can find essential guidance on how to optimise your use of web searches in our web searching guide (this covers key areas such as Google and other search engines, an overview of lateral reading, and tips on using AI to support your online research).

The majority of our e-resources are discoverable through Google search and, when access is available, a University of Bath Links logo will be displayed next to the result. There might, however, be instances where data harvested by Google will be incorrect, producing false catalogue results. If you find yourself unable to access an e-book or e-journal article having followed a link from a Google search, we recommend running the search directly on the library catalogue. This is also the case when running searches in most of the large index databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, etc.

What to do if you can't access resources that you need

When it comes to searching databases for material, you will find that links to full text articles are displayed with a link for you to click through to read online or download. If you are working with an index and find that you can only access a citation for an article that you need for your research, you can request to loan them via our Inter-library loans service. You can also use our Bath Copies service to request a digitised version of a book chapter or other print-based resource.

A note on AI

Some e-resource platforms have introduced search options that are powered by AI, and this can be a useful tool for expanding and enhancing your research. If this is something that you would like to explore, we would recommend reading the guidance on our AI and Plagiarism guide to ensure that you are working within the parameters set by the University. Additionally, as mentioned above, you can find focused guidance on how best to use AI to support your web searches in our AI guide.

If you encounter an issue while trying to access an e-resource, here are some tips for finding a fix:

• Check that the date of publication is covered by the range subscribed to by the Library (this is stated under the link to the e-resource within the catalogue listing)
• Try clearing the cache / browser history of your device, and / or restarting it. You can also try changing your browser. This will often help to remove any issues that may be happening in the background!
• If, following the above checks, you are still encountering access issues, please let us know via the 'report a problem with accessing this resource' button in the catalogue listing. We will then investigate and work on resolving any issues before sending you an update via email. 

If you're studying off-campus, check out our remote access to library resources guide for key guidance.