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Search Tools: Discover

About Discover

Discover allows you to search for books, articles, and more at the same time, through a single interface. 

• Connect to Discover (opens new window)

What sources are included in Discover?

Discover searches for books and other materials (such as music scores, audio and visual recordings, and archival collections) from the Libraries' catalog, as well as an extensive array of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.

While Discover provides access to many resources, it is not comprehensive.  You may also need to use discipline-specific databases.

• TIP: unsure of which databases to use?  Ask a Librarian, view our list of discipline-specific databases or consult a research guide.

Can I access full text articles?  Only scholarly articles?

When you use Discover, test different ways of refining your search.  For example, you can limit your search to full text or scholarly publications:

• TIP: looking for full text, but it appears to be unavailable? Click the resource's link anyway -- then use the "360 Link to Full Text" button  to see if Vassar College Libraries owns this resource, either in print or electronic format.
  
• TIP: No 360 link?  Vassar doesn't own the resource?  Use Interlibrary Loan to request the item from another library.

Other ways to refine your search

Besides including or excluding full text, scholarly publications, newspaper articles, and websites, you can also limit your search by:

• Content type, such as book reviews, journal articles, or musical scores
• Subject terms
• Publication date
• Library location
• Language

How can I search for items like musical scores, recordings, or archival collections?

Use the Library Locations or Content Type features to limit your results. Locations choices include such areas as Archives/Special Collections and Music, while Content Type choices include audio recordings, video recordings, music scores, manuscripts, and archival collections.

• TIP: looking for musical scores?  Use Content Type to limit to both "music scores" AND "sheet music" to get the most comprehensive result set.
• TIP: looking for items like personal papers or other archival, manuscript, or special collections materials?  Use the Archives/Special Collections limit under Library Locations.

Need more help?

For more help, Ask a Librarian. We are available via:

• Phone or text: 1-845-437-5766
• Email: researchhelp@vassar.edu
• IM/chat

For specific research questions by subject, contact your department liaison.