Library Search is the search bar on the library website that lets you search through all of WMU University Libraries' holdings. Use Library Search to:
Do not use Library Search as your only research tool. You should also be using some of the databases listed below.
Once you've found a source you want to read, click the title to open the catalog page. Look in the "online" section to find links to e-resources:
Look in the "physical" section to find the call number for a book held in the stacks (shelves). The first time you look for a book in the library, you may want to ask for directions at the front desk. You can also sign in using the yellow bar and place a request for the book. It will be held for you to pick up at the front desk.
You may encounter sources that are not accessible on Library Search. In that case, you can request the source via Interlibrary Loan. Note that this service can take a few business days for scans of articles or chapters, up to a few weeks to receive a physical book.
This is the core index in the field of Education. Includes citations with abstracts for over 2,000 journals and more than 450,000 reports in education and related fields.Covers 1966-present. This database is also available from the US government.
These are general science databases. For databases for specific scientific fields of study, see the appropriate subject guide.
Indexes scholarly literature in the natural and social sciences. Use this to get extensive inter-disciplinary access to journal articles and also to find out which articles are being cited by other scholars . Cited references from 1970-present, records from 1788-present.
NOTE: WMU users do not have access to SciVal through Scopus
This service from Google searches scholarly literature, including articles, theses, books and technical reports, and "gray literature" from many areas of research. Some materials are free, some will be available to WMU users by clicking on "Article Linker" while others may require a fee. Use this source in addition to library databases for a more complete search of scholarly literature.
To enable links from the "Find it@WMU" from off-campus computers, follow these instructions or watch a video tutorial :
1. Go to Google Scholar.
2. Click on the "options" wheel in the top right corner.
3. Select "Library Links" from menu on the left side.
4. In the "Library Links" search box, type "Western Michigan University Libraries".
5. Click the checkbox next to "Western Michigan University Libraries (ArticleLinker)".
6. Click the "Save".
8. A link to "ArticleLinker" should now appear next to those citations that are available electronically from the Libraries.
When you find a citation and would like to read the source it is citing, always start by checking in Library Search.
If searching for the article title doesn't work, try searching for the journal title.
Some citation styles are difficult to parse. For example, for chemistry citations you can look up journal title abbreviations using the CAS Source Index Search Tool. When in doubt, try googling the confusing parts of a citation.
Also search on Google Scholar, as that may catch open source, older literature that isn't in Library Search.
If you are having trouble tracking down a citation, ask for help:
Search our subject guides to find more resources about your specific topic. Or see one of the science guides below:
