Description
Many people think CloudSearch is a database, but actually, it is not. It is an "aggregation" service. That means it gathers resources from various parts of the internet. It includes:
- An HCU Books/Ebooks tab to see items in the catalog.
- Gathers articles for searches from the library's subscription databases.
- Gathers Open Access articles (free, scholarly, and mostly peer-reviewed). This also includes reports and conference proceedings as well. Open Access articles are scattered across hundreds of websites. CloudSearch finds them for you. To date, this includes over 55 million articles and growing each year.
- Open Education Resources (OER) including textbooks and free resources for teachers.
Like any resource, it has its pros and cons.
Second, you should be aware of the pros and cons of CloudSearch at this time.
Using CloudSearch
- You can do a search straight in the CloudSearch box from the library home page.
- Once there you have some choices that help you make a focused search so you don't waste your time:
- Everything
- This dropdown lets you search books, ebooks, and articles, just CloudSearch, just the library books, or just the EBSCO ebooks.
- The long list of disciplines applies only to library book searches.
- All Fields
- If you select Everything, then the dropdown gives you a traditional list of options (subject, author, title, etc.).
- If you select CloudSerach, then the dropdown changes to include options for article searching such as DOI, Author, Publication Name, and ISSN.
- Everything
- After Searching, your results will appear in two tabs: HCU Books/Ebooks and CloudSearch. You will see the book results first. Click on the CloudSearch tab for journal articles.
- Icons: On your result page, you will see a variety of icons, buttons, and filters. You may now see either Cites, Cited or both.
- Cited means the number of times the article has been cited by other authors in their articles.
- Cites: refers to the number of citations in the bibliography for that article,
- View Resource: This article is available in full text.
- Find Resource: This article is not available in full text, but you can request on InterLibrary Loan.
- Citation:This article in MLA, APA, etc.
- Publisher Page: Helpful to determine if article is peer-reviewed or not.
- Filter your results to narrow them down.
The Library can tell you more, so please contact us. This may seem overwhelming, but it isn't. Everyone wants to find the perfect article so they can go to their next party. It might take time, but the more you practice these skills now will actually help you more freely enjoy those parties later!