In February, the Law Library will implement EBSCO Discovery Service, a “one stop” method of providing access to a wide variety of library resources including books, eBooks, eJournals, EBSCOhost and other databases all in one Google-like search box. Many libraries, such as HSHL, have implemented Discovery Service because it is a more user-friendly research tool. At the Law Library, Discovery Service will compliment the existing catalogs and research databases. You will still have access to WorldCat, which allows you to search the collections of libraries worldwide, you will also still be able to search the Law Library's holdings in the classic catalog, as well as search the University System of Maryland's catalog. You can preview the new library homepage here.
In the basic search field, you may look for a book or article by keyword, author or title. You can also search for the item in our library or within the University of Maryland system (for interlibrary loan):
As you can see from the picture below (double click on the image to make it larger), Discovery Service looks for your search terms in books, book reviews, articles, Digital Commons, and more. The results screen will provide more helpful categories to narrow down
and refine your results list, so that you will be able to find the best resources for
your topic. You may use the facets on the left to narrow the content type, or
narrow by date. The facets on the right allow you to narrow the
databases to search.
When you click on the link for an item, Discovery Service will provide up-to-date information on where to find it. If the link is to an article or an eBook, Discovery Service will provide to you the full text when available. If the item is unavailable, you can quickly place a hold on it (if it is a book) or order the material from another library using the links on the left of the screen. The links on the right of the screen allow you to save search results or send them to another researcher. (Double click on the image to make it larger).
Please send us your thoughts on Discovery Service or how we can improve the homepage here.
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