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PolyU Library

Design

Your Starting Point for Design Research

Featured Design Journals

Where To Find Articles

Generally, there are three ways to find articles:

  • Google Scholar is a quick search tool when you have an article title in hand, but not very convenient when searching by keywords - too many irrelevant and non-scholarly results.
  • OneSearch is a one-stop search of local and remote resources Library has, most of them being scholarly materials. You may still find too many results when your keywords are not specific enough.
  • Directly search in a Database if you have a concrete subject to research, try search articles in a database. A database is usually a collection of journals, and each journal is a collection of articles. Some databases focus on a specific subject area, e.g. World Textiles covers articles on all aspects of the textiles industry, textile technology, and the application of textiles materials. 

Finding Journal Articles - 4 Ways

To search for articles with a specific title or some keywords from the Library, you can:

1. Select Articles tab.

2. Choose the field you would like to search for (e.g. Keywords & Title)

3. Type in the related information and conduct a search.Onesearch article 1

4. Filter the results by Type, Date or Subject...etc. (If appropriate)

5. Click on Full text available and then select one source to get the full text.

Onesearch article 2

To get the full text of the articles found in Google Scholar, it is recommended to access via Google Scholar@PolyU. For articles within PolyU library subscriptions, the full text can be accessed by clicking PolyU eLinks on Google Scholar.

1. Choose Articles tab from Library homepage.

2. Click on Google Scholar@PolyU. (Login with your NetID and Password for off campus access)

3. Search for your desired topic/ title and click on PolyU eLinks to get the full text for those within Library's subscriptions.Google scholar

Search in a database

Searching within a database helps you narrow your search as the coverage of the database can be very selective. Some databases focus on one specific area, which can help you filter out the contents that are not relevant to the subject; some may cover peer-reviewed journals only, to ensure the articles covered are of certain quality. Almost all databases will provide an Advanced Search option, which allows you to search in a more precise way, e.g. search within article title, journal title, or subject terms (that are tagged to each article). This helps you find the most relevant results quickly and effectively.

Note that login with NetID is required to access the following databases off campus.

Search in a citation database (Find more related papers)

Web of Science and Scopus are two large multidisciplinary citation databases. They do not provide full-text articles, but they are very helpful for exploring related articles by looking at citing articles (who cited the article) and references (who have been cited by the article). If you do not have an idea which databases or journals should go for, start with these two.

To get the full text for those articles that are not available in PolyU Library, eligible users can submit an Interlibrary Loan request. Upon submitting the request, the Library will try to source the article from local and overseas libraries and other organisations. 

 

See a user guide on using the Library's Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Service here. 

 
Subjects: Design