SuperSearch is the Library's search engine, and can provide access to the majority of ANU Library resources.

SuperSearch is a great place to start searching for journal articles. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Refine your results by using search filters.
  • Select Articles under Format to search for articles only.
  • Select Journals under Format to search for journals only.
• Click Journal Search from the top menu to search by title or browse by category.
• Use Advance search to filter by a particular date of publication, language or format.

There are many filter options available in SuperSearch, including:

• Format: search for type of content (e.g. articles, books, audio-visual materials, theses)
• Library: refine by location of content (e.g. a library branch; the Print Repository)
• Subject: refine your search by subject area (e.g. tourism; national parks; travel industry)
• Date range: search within a specific date range 
• Language: refine by language of content
• Availability: search for material that meets specific criteria (e.g. Available online, Peer-reviewed, Open Access, held by the ANU Library)

How do I find scholarly journals and articles at ANU?

• Individual journal articles can be discovered via SuperSearch, and our database & e-journal collections.
• Journal titles can be found using the ANU Library Catalogue.
• Many of the Library's older print journals are stored off-site at the ANU Print Repository, while more recently published volumes are kept in one of the Library's four specialised branches.

How do I access scholarly journals and articles that are not held at ANU?

Sometimes, you need to look outside of the ANU collections to find what you are looking for. You can use the following resources to locate journals outside of the ANU.

• Document Supply = self-service portal for ANU staff and students only
• Open Access = free access to scholarly publications and materials
• National Research Institutions = internationally recognised collections located in Canberra

Use the following steps to analyse and manage search results found in SuperSearch, databases and e-journal collections or any of the other search platforms included in this guide.

Check how your results have been sorted

• Usually the default order is by relevance, but you can change this to publication date, author, times cited and more.
• These options will vary in each different platform.

Review the number of results

• If there are a lot of results you might need to refine (narrow) your search using more specific keywords or the filters provided by the database or e-resource.
• If there are not enough results, broaden your search by adding related terms

Assess if an article is relevant by reading through the abstract

• The abstract should summarise the article and help you determine whether you should read the full text of the article. 

Apply reading strategies to maximise your time

• Learn how to read with a purpose.
• Look at the reading strategies guide from ANU Academic Skills.

Organise your research

• Save or export selected citations to keep an accurate record for your referencing or bibliography.

Create search alerts

• Automated alerts help you to stay up-to-date with new research in your field.
• To create alerts, you will need to set up a profile in the relevant database/s to be notified of new research.

There are four types of alerts:

Saved search alert

Your saved searches are run at regular intervals (e.g. daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and you receive notification of newly added articles that match the search criteria. The saved searches can edited, amended or deleted at any time you choose.

Citation alert

Citation alerts let you know when an article you have selected is cited in a newly published paper. Researchers can use this type of alert to track who is reading and citing their work, or the work of other's in their scholarly networks.

Journal table of contents alert

Journal table of contents (TOC) alerts let you receive the TOC for new editions/issues of your favourite journal and include links to the new editions/issues articles.

RSS feed 

An RSS feed ("Rich Site Summary" or "Really Simple Syndication") lets you know immediately, via your computer or mobile device, when web-based content is updated or published. Use an RSS feed reader to subscribe to numerous feeds such as news, web publications, discussion blogs, and podcasts - and read all new entries in a single place.