News release

From the University Library

01 August 2008

Central Search: cross-search up to 50 databases

Central Search is the most effective tool available for quickly searching across 50 of our premium content databases and finding answers fast.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of items in our electronic collection. With so many starting points for research, users can struggle to find the best source, and often bypass the Library’s quality e-resources to search the Web.

To address this, the Library now offers a Central Search service providing a simple and intuitive starting point for research.

Available on- and off-campus via the Library’s website, it is capable of searching 50 of the most popular e-resources from our collection at once - including the Library’s catalogue WebCat, as well as leading research, news and reference databases simultaneously from a single, simple search form.  Results are seamlessly linked to the corresponding full-text documents (where available).

Besides helping users find journal articles and books more quickly and productively, Central Search also provides a powerful search results analysis tool called "clustering".

Clustering in Central Search dynamically scans the results of each search as they are displayed, building separate linked lists of identified authors, journal titles, subjects and data ranges, which in turn quickly identify underlying patterns, relationships, themes and trends.  Clustered results thus automatically and effortlessly provide further search paths for Central Search users to explore. 

We welcome your feedback

We hope you find Central Search a major help in accessing the information you require.  However please note that this product is still under development. We would welcome your suggestions on how it might be improved.  Please email: S.Bentley@soton.ac.uk

If you would like further information on this product please view the product information.