Quick search help
The Quick search box on the Library homepage provides easy access to our search tools and catalogues, and Google Scholar, by using the four tabs described below.
icons to link to the relevant option within MetaLib. The 
icon links to this page.
Books, etc section of Quick search
Search the Library Catalogue is exactly the same as the Basic Search on the Library Catalogue, and allows you to search for books, print journals, and more, held in all the libraries, plus a growing number of eBooks. More details can be found on the Library Catalogue help pages.
To search for a particular book try 'Find in all fields' with the author's last name and a significant title word, eg orwell farm. See the Library Catalogue search tips for more advice.
Alternatively, you can use the icon to link to the search page of the catalogue. The icon links to this page.
The links at the bottom of the search box give access to additional books, etc, in the form of eBook packages accessible via MetaLib, the Card Catalogue Online, for some pre-1978 non-journal items, the Online Archive Catalogue of the University of Bristol Special Collections, and Catalogues of other institutions, via MetaLib.
Journals section of Quick search
The two search boxes on this tab allow you to Find eJournal by title, using our eJournals catalogue, and Find print journal by title, using our Library Catalogue. In each case you must search for words in the title of the journal, eg Journal of environmental law, and not words from the title of the article in the journal.
Alternatively, you can use the icon to link to the eJournals catalogue or Library Catalogue with printed journal material pre-selected. The icon links to this page.
If you are looking for articles on a topic, or by a particular author, try the Articles & Databases tab instead. For more advice about journals, see our Journals collection page.
Articles & databases section of Quick search
Use Find database by title to search for a database on MetaLib, our resource gateway. Please note that there is an intermittent problem with this search at the moment, which sometimes affects the first search in a session and gives a 'No match found' message even when there are matches. Our suggested workaround is to run the search a second time soon after the first attempt and then the results will be correct.
Alternatively, use Select databases by category to view a list of databases and other useful resources on MetaLib by subject, by material type, or by highlighted resources.
Once you have found a useful database on MetaLib, you will be able to link to it using the link provided or you may be able to search it in a basic way from within MetaLib. More details can be found on the MetaLib help pages.
Quick search for articles via MetaLib provides a simple keyword search of a huge collection of articles from many different sources. We have named this collection 'Articles Quick Search' though the name the provider uses is 'Primo Central'. Some hints on using this option:
- Search results are displayed within MetaLib together with our Get it! buttons.
- You can search for a phrase by enclosing the words in " ", eg "metallic finish".
- If you want to know the source of a particular search result from 'Quick search for articles via MetaLib', click on the title to go to the 'Full view' for the record in MetaLib and the source will be mentioned next to the 'Indexed in' and 'Resource' headings.
- Quick search for articles via MetaLib is not suitable for a comprehensive search - you should seek out and link to the key database(s) covering your subject for what is likely to be the most comprehensive search and for the extra search options which may be available.
icons to link to the relevant option within MetaLib. The icon links to this page.
Internet section of Quick search
Use the Google Scholar search box to search Google's selective search for scholarly and scientific resources. Google Scholar can be a quick way of finding some journal articles and books on a topic, and it is possible to activate our Get it! service in Google Scholar (details of how to do this) so that text links 'Get It! @ UoB' appear for journal references. If you need more comprehensive/systematic/precision searching than is possible with search engines, you should try the Articles & Databases tab.
Alternatively, you can use the 
icon to link to the Google Scholar search page. The icon links to this page.
The links at the bottom of the search box give access to other search engines and subject gateways and advice on how to use these effectively, and our Subject resources & support pages which include details of useful Internet resources.
Linking to Quick search
It is possible to link to the Library home page with a particular tab of 'Quick search' open. When you change tabs you will see the URL displayed in your browser changes slightly, and you can use this URL to link to a particular tab of 'Quick search'.
Known problems, help and contacts
Known problems with Quick search are mentioned above. For help and advice please see our help and contacts for eResources page.