Search engines like DuckDuckGo and Google retrieve web pages containing information with one or more of your search terms. Results may contain advertisements, sponsored content, and may not be ranked by relevancy. However, they can be good places to start your research to find a variety of source types. It's always important to evaluate the information you find, but especially when searching on the web. With the proliferation of AI technologies, it's important to scrutinize content to determine who and where this information is coming from.

Articles & Books is a library resource that searches multiple databases at once, as well as the library catalog. This is a good general search for finding different source types, although results will primarily be books and articles.

You can use filters (found on the right side of your results page) or the advanced search option to further narrow and customize your search. These options include Availability, Material Type, Date, and more. You can expand each section to see more options.

The library catalog searches primarily books at all U of M libraries that you can request via Get It. Like Articles & Books, the catalog has an advanced search option as well as filters for further limiting your results. If you want to see books held just at the Duluth campus, you can adjust the search scope (found in the top right of your results page) from All Campuses Catalog to Duluth Campus Catalog.

Databases are similar to library catalogs, in that you're searching a collection of resources electronically. Databases contain different types of resources, including articles, books, images, videos, etc. Not all databases will provide the full text of a resource, in which case look for the Find It button to check other databases or request the item through interlibrary loan. The library has hundreds of databases listed on the Databases List; you can you use the All Subjects dropdown to narrow the list. The Best Bets are what librarians recommend for that subject. 

This is an example of how a database interface can look. This is Academic Search Premier which is a great database to start with when researching.

Many databases are subject-specific, meaning that they contain information from and about a particular discipline. For example, if your topic is on wetland conservation, you may want to use one or more of the databases listed in the Environment & Sustainability Research Guide. Research Guides are created by librarians to highlight subject specific resources and can be a great place to get started on your research. Use the dropdown menu below to select a Research Guide related to your topic:

UMD Library users can link their UMD user accounts with Google Scholar which allows for quicker access to scholarly articles. Take advantage of database and subscriptions through our FindIt! link resolver!

1. Go to scholar.google.com
2. Sign in with your UMD Credentials in upper right hand corner
3. In the upper left hand corner, click on the three parallel lines, then on the gear/sprocket

1. Click on the Library Links Tab. Search UMD Library, and check the box for "University of Minnesota Duluth - Findit@UMD. (You can also add "World Cat" & "University of Minnesota Duluth - ProQuest Full text")