Indiana University has hundreds of databases for students to access on a wide variety of topics. These databases collect many different kinds of research articles, books, newspaper articles, magazines, and more! As a student, you can access the entirety of IU's databases from the library's website by hovering over the Research Tab and selecting Resources A-Z. Once you select that, you will arrive at the page that contains all of IU's databases sorted alphabetically.
IU Libraries may have millions of physical books in our collections, but we also have access to ebooks through our digital collections! There are many different ways to access ebooks, so to make it easy the Libraries put together a guide to help you quickly and efficiently locate ebooks relevant to your work.
While doing research at IU, you're going to be looking at more than just books. You will need to search for academic, peer-reviewed articles to help write that paper! OneSearch@IU is a great place to get started when looking for articles, as it searches between multiple databases so that you don't have to search in each individual one.
OneSearch@IU finds scholarly journal articles, news items, popular publications, media, case studies and more with a single search. This resource pulls together nearly all of the IU Libraries' content, allowing you to find materials across the breadth of our holdings. It even searches through IUCAT for books.
IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. It also includes both physical and digital materials. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.
IUCAT also lets users alter the formats of their searches, so finding an e-book through IUCAT is just like finding a book.
Feel free to search for a book in IUCAT from here! Searching will open up a new tab, so you will not need to worry about losing your place on this page. It will also take you directly to the IUCAT website! However, if you would prefer to start from the IUCAT home page, feel free to follow this link.
Once you have found a book in IUCAT, you can click on the record and even have the call number sent to your phone. Just click on the "text this call number" button that is located just beneath where the record tells you which library the book is held in.
Sometimes, you might need a book that we do not have in our collections. If this is the case, you should try Interlibrary Loan!
The IU Bloomington Libraries will request books, articles, and other materials from other libraries if we do not own what you are looking for. Any current faculty, staff, or student may use these free services.
Check out the library's website or frequently asked questions if you want to know more.
IU has so many databases that it can be a bit overwhelming. A good place to help filter down to the most helpful databases are the Research Guides. These are guides created by IU Libraries' expert subject librarians for specific subjects at IU. These guides will have a collection of databases and helpful descriptions on what databases and other e-resources to use, as well as give you the contact information for your subject librarian.
Looking for a general place to start your research? The Expert Research Help guide can help you with assignments at any stage!
If you want some more visual help, Indiana University Library's YouTube Channel offers many different video tutorials to help you navigate the Libraries' resources. Some essential videos are:
Have a few minutes and want a closer look at the Libraries? Take our 3 minute tour of the IU Bloomington Libraries for an all access look at what the Libraries has for students.
