Questions & Answers

EBSCO Discovery Service is a search tool that searches most of the library's individual databases and SpartaCat, the library catalog, at one time in a single search box.

Searching with EBSCO Discovery Service

The tool looks for the search keywords you have used in the title, publication information, summary, or actual text or content of books, eBooks, streaming video, and articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and other items in the library's physical and digital collections.

You can apply search limiters to help you narrow your results. The most important of these are the 'Full Text' and the 'Peer Reviewed (Scholarly)' options, but you will also see additional search limiters common to all the databases being searched or that are applicable to the displayed results.

Tips for Getting Better Search Results

If you're getting too many results that aren't helpful, here are a few things you can try in order to make your results better:

• use precise, exact keywords or combinations of keywords
• apply limiters (publication date, source type, subject, and other fields) to help filter and narrow the results

If you're getting too few results or no results:

• check your spelling
• use broader, less precise search keywords or alternative keywords (synonyms and related ideas)
• remove filters if you've applied them

Because EBSCO Discovery Service does not provide a comprehensive listing of all the library's resources, there may be times when you will also need to search individual databases.