You can use Library Search to look for online resources, including e-books, e-journal articles, online reference works and other digital information. We provide these to Birmingham Newman staff and students through subscriptions to databases, aggregators and publishers.
Our Subject Guides also recommend databases relevant to your subject area and all of our databases are listed in our A-Z list. Library Search will find information in these databases, but sometimes it is helpful to search them directly.
Databases may have the full-text of journal articles or just abstracts or references to them. If we have do have the full text of the article available in another database or journal you can find it using the ‘Is Birmingham Newman full-text available?’ link.
Take a look at our Video Guides and Tutorials if you want to know more about how to use these.
Databases are specialised online collections of information that are used by researchers in academic, government and private organisations.
Databases may contain:
Databases can also contain the full text of journal articles and even e-books and reference sources.
Unlike e-books, we don't usually buy this content outright: instead the Library pays a yearly subscription to access databases and e-journal collections. Examples of databases and e-journal collections that we subscribe to are:
Subscriptions to databases and e-journals collections are very complicated and we won't have full-text access to every article or book you may find; however, there may be alternative ways of accessing this content, by using an inter-library loan, using the Sconul Access scheme to visit another university library, or by finding an Open Access version of the resource.
Aggregators are websites or platforms that give access to content that we have bought that may come from lots of different places. This mainly means our e-books, primary source material, archive and some statistical information. Examples of aggregators that we use are:
Encyclopaedias, dictionaries, handbooks and other reference sources can help you find your way into your assignment reading or research or support your understanding of the processes behind academic study. They're also great if you need a quick definition or an overview of a subject.
Examples of online reference works that we subscribe to are:
When you use e-resources that Birmingham Newman gives you access to, you must make sure that you're aware of any restrictions and conditions of use.
You can see the licence terms for individual resources on our A-Z of databases. Under the resource, click on the 'Permitted Uses for this e-resource' link. You can also see the full licence of many of our e-resources on our Policies and Rules pages.
You must never pass on any password details, either for OpenAthens or for an individual resource, to anyone else, because only authorised users, such as Birmingham Newman students and staff are allowed to access our resources.
Some licences don't mention restrictions, for example whether the items can be linked to from Moodle; instead, the copyright statements shown on articles and journals when you access them, give details of what is allowed. Please check these copyright notices. In the "Permitted Uses for this e-resource" we have marked these as "Maybe - check with library".
You can't put links to articles into Moodle for some EBSCO content – you'll find any relevant copyright notices at the end of the HTML or PDF version of the article. For example - Harvard Business Review content in Business Source Premier, can't be used in Moodle and can't be linked to from Moodle.
If you're unsure what you can and can't do for a particular resource, or want more information about licences please contact the e-resources team
Last reviewed: 14 February 2024
