Use the tips below to practice using 1Search, the search box on the upper right-hand corner of the library's homepage. Open up 1Search in another tab or browser and try it out as you walk through this guide.

*Make sure to login to access more content and to use the saving features.*

Start by entering some keywords or the title of an article. Because 1Search searches so much stuff, you can try more targeted searches. The results of your search are displayed in the middle column. Options for refining your search are on the left side. Refining your search gives you the best results. Learn more about refining in the next module (below).

Because 1Search has so much content, you may find that your search results are very large and you’ll want to narrow down your search. You can do this in a number of ways including by resource type, topic and publication date. 

The options for refining your search are shown on the left side of the screen. Here's an example of how to refine by topic.

Looking at the list of topics shows you:

• what the main ideas are in your results,
• what language people are using to describe your topic,
• if you're on the right track.

When looking for articles, you will see that some articles are available immediately online from our library in full text. First, click on the View Online tab, then to open the article, choose the publisher's link (in this example - either Highwire Press link) that includes the right date range for the article you want.

You may need to get articles or books that our library doesn't have. To look beyond what is available in our library, check the box to expand your results.

Now you may see results that you need to request this item from another library (a grey or yellow circle will display). Click the Availability & Request Options tab, and then click Request from Interlibrary Loan to ask our librarians to get this article for you for free. 

You will receive an email from the Interlibrary Loan department when your article is ready. Click on the link in the email to access the article. It usually takes 2-3 days to get an article.

As you search, you have the option to email and format your citations*. First, click on the Item Details tab. Second, click the Actions drop-down menu. Choose email or citation depending on what you want to do.

*Note - Choose the citation style. You'll need to double check the citation because, 1Search is still learning how to make totally accurate citations and often has mistakes like missing volume numbers.