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Library 101—Online Resources

An introduction to online library resources for Vanguard University students.

Finding Articles

Vanguard provides many resources for finding scholarly articles:

Beginning Research

For general beginning research, you can use the library's online catalog (VANCAT) to look for articles (in addition to books). Use the left-side menu to narrow your search to articles under "Format" and peer-reviewed under "Content Type".

You can also conduct a search in Google Scholar.

  • Be sure to install the LibKey Nomad browser extension in order connect results with Vanguard's subscription content.
  • You can also configure Google Scholar to connect to the library's holdings.

You can search various collections of journal content as well:

Narrowing Your Focus

There are many subject-specific databases you can use to search for journal content. These databases are the best tools to use for finding articles on a particular topic. The library provides a searchable list of databases by subject. Here are direct links to subject-specific databases:

Biology || Business || Communication || Education || Film/Media || History/Political Science || Kinesiology || Literature || Multidisciplinary || Music || Nursing || Psychology || Religion || Sciences || Sociology || Technology

Finding Journals

There are multiple ways to determine which the journals available to Vanguard University.

  • The Journal Portal provides a comprehensive list of journal titles available at Vanguard (including print-only content available in the library's collections).
  • BrowZine provides an easy-to-use interface to browse content in individual journal volumes. You can create personalized journal collections in order to keep up on the latest scholarly research.
  • LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that connects Vanguard's journal content with other websites like Wikipedia or PubMed.