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Introduction to database searching

If you are searching for a topic or subject rather than a specific article you might like to search one of our databases. These often focus on a particular subject area or discipline and reduce the amount of results you receive from irrelevant subjects.

Databases are collections of resources such as journal articles and conference papers, and also sometimes book chapters and reports. If you are doing a literature search or systematic review they are a key resource to use.

There are two main kinds of database:

  • Bibliographic - they won't show you the full paper straight away, but you can often read an abstract and see the author details. You'll need to check with Get it @ King's if the Library has access to the journal article
  • Full text - will let you open and read the article directly from the list of results

Databases by subject - NMES

Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Chemistry topics. For a more complete list of databases related to Chemistry, visit the A-Z list of databases for Chemistry:

New to using online databases?

Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching in the Finding Academic Material for NMES module in KLaSS:

Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Engineering topics. For a more complete list of databases related to Engineering, visit the A-Z list of databases for Engineering:

New to using online databases?

Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching and earn badges in the Finding Academic Information for Arts & Sciences Topics module of KLaSS:

Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Informatics topics. For a more complete list of databases related to Informatics, visit the A-Z list of databases for Informatics:

New to using online databases?

Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching and earn badges in the Finding and Evaluating Information section of KLaSS:

Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Mathematics topics. For a more complete list of databases related to Mathematics, visit the A-Z list of databases for Mathematics:

New to using online databases?

Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching and earn badges in the Finding and Evaluating Information section of KLaSS:

Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Physics topics. For a more complete list of databases related to Physics, visit the A-Z list of databases for Physics:

New to using online databases?

Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching and earn badges in the Finding and Evaluating Information section of KLaSS:

Getting the full text

If a database lists something you want to read, look for a button that says 'Get it at King's' Get it @ King's This will take you to Library Search and to the full text, if the library subscribes to the journal, or prompting you to request the item via Inter Library Loan. 

I can't see the 'Get it @ King's'

If the 'Get it @ King's' button is not available then you should use Library Search to see if the article or book is available through another database.

New to using Library Search?

Find out how to use Library Search to find the books and items you need in the Getting Started With the Library - Undergraduates and Taught Postgraduates section of this guide - look for the navigation button in the top left corner!