Researcher Connect is a blog designed for the HKU research community, bringing community members the latest news and trends in research support services. It keeps you well informed of the updated news in areas such as:
Service Counter
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Research Consultation (HKU academic staff and postgraduate students only)
HKUL subscribes to a rich collection of print and electronic resources in support of the literature review process. Resources range from multi-disciplinary to subject specialized databases.
Electronic Resources
There are myriad resources each with its specialty or purpose.
► Subject Guides: Refer to Subject guides for the pertinent resources on a discipline or topic.
► Accessing e-resources: HKUL authentication is required for access to e-resources. However, if you access a resource directly from the publisher’s page bypassing the library, the HKUL authentication page will not appear. Please install the HKUL Search Assistant or Reload via HKUL to trigger the authentication page.
Below is a simple overview of the resources for different stages of research:
Stage of research | Tools | Hints |
Beginning your research
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Find@HKUL | The discovery tool at HKUL to find books and articles on a topic. See Guide |
Google Scholar | With special settings, you can link directly to ViewIt @ HKUL for full-text access. See Guide | |
For inter-disciplinary topics |
Multi-disciplinary databases |
Try the following key databases: 中國期刊全文數據庫 |
E-Theses Databases | Help discover research beyond journal articles and explore the extensive bibliographies of each thesis. Get Hints. | |
For a specialized discipline |
Databases | Choose databases by subject or by database type. |
HKUL Digital Initiatives | The databases produced through HKUL digitization open up online access to local collections originally in print format only. | |
Stay up-to-date on new publications |
BrowZine | Track new publications by journals. The tool offers desktop, Android, and IOS platforms. See Guide |
Alerts in databases | Track new publications on a topic by setting up email alerts or RSS feeds in selected databases. Sample Guide | |
Pre-prints
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Pre-prints servers also provide previews of papers going to be published. See Guide |
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Get materials beyond HKUL
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Request books, book chapters, journal articles, and other reading resources beyond the HKU Libraries' collections from local and overseas partner institutes. | |
JULAC Card | Access and borrow books from other UGC-funded Libraries. | |
Recommendation Online |
Book Recommendation Online: recommend books (print or electronic) & audio-visual items for all HKU Libraries borrowers. Electronic Resources Recommendation Online: recommend electronic databases by academic staff only. Journal Recommendation Online: recommend journals (print and/or electronic) by academic staff only. |
Watch this video, to learn how to get access to library subscribed databases.
Skills
Simply entering keywords into a search box might work. However, building a good search statement would help gain better success when searching the databases. Below are some general tips:
Search tip | Function | Example |
Boolean operator: AND | Both terms to appear | energy AND pollution |
Boolean operator: OR | Either term to appear | solar OR sun |
Boolean operator: NOT | Exclude a term | energy NOT nuclear |
Truncation and Wildcard | Search variant spelling | cultur* to get culture, cultured, cultural |
Wildcard | organi?ation to get organisation, organization | |
Brackets | Group terms | pollution AND (fossil fuel OR petroleum) |
Quotation marks | Phrase searching | “law and order” |
Summary of the Boolean operators:
How to build a search statement
Watch this video, to learn more about how to build a search statement.