Ask the Library

A good place to start your search is the Library Catalogue.

When searching for information, think about the keywords or phrases that describe your topic. You can combine your keywords to enhance your search using connectors such as AND, OR.

For example:

• "global warming" AND Australia
• "global warming" OR "climate change"

Handy Hints:

• To search for phrases, use double quotes. E.g. "global warming"
• To find variants of a word, use the * symbol. E.g. ethic* finds ethic, ethics, ethical etc.
• To find different spellings of a word, use the ? symbol in place of a letter. E.g. organi?ation  finds organisation or organization
• To exclude words or phrases, use the connector NOT. E.g. Java NOT Indonesia
• In the catalogue, as well as many databases, you can use the advanced search option to search within specific fields such as title, author, keyword or subject term

For further information, have a look at the range of How To guides

• Plan your search [PDF]
• Save Time Searching Databases with Truncation, Wildcards and Phrases [PDF]
• Plan your Search [video, 2 minutes]
• Learn to Search the Library Catalogue [interactive tutorial, 15 minutes]

More help is also available under 'How do I refine my search?'.

For help getting started with your assignment, check to see if an Assignment Help has been developed for your course. 

You can also have a look at the Subject Guides for broader help in your area of study.

If you need further help with understanding your assignment question and how to get started, check out the range of Study Support resources and services offered by Student Support Services.

The Library is operating with the full commitment of its staff to provide high level support to the learning, teaching and research activities of the University.

At this stage we continue to welcome visitors at our four metropolitan campus libraries. Opening hours may change with little notice, so it's best to check times on our Opening Hours page.

Our libraries have been reconfigured to adhere to the government's social distancing guidelines. Particular measures adopted include the disabling of alternate PCs in computer barns, the removal of chairs, reduced study room capacity and increased cleaning across all facilities. Clear signage reflects the changes to our physical spaces.

If you are visiting the library, we ask that you:

• Maintain a distance of 1.5m between yourselves and others
• Avoid touching or sharing screens/devices
• Practice good hand hygiene
• Use the alcohol-based hand sanitiser made available

For further information please see UniSA COVID-19 updates.

You can borrow a laptop if you are a UniSA student. 

• There are NO requests or renewals
• Laptops are located in the self-service units. You can find them at the following campuses
  • City West: Level 2 of the Jeffrey Smart building, near the Tech Zone
  • City East: Level 3 in the corridor opposite computer barn B3-30
  • Magill: East Wing, to the right of the entrance up the steps
  • Mawson Lakes: Ground floor, behind the Ask the Library/IT Service Point

• They can be borrowed for up to 4 days
• A fine of $5 per day will be applied to your account if the laptop is not returned on time
  • Charges also apply for lost or damaged laptops or missing parts
• Laptops are loaned with a charger (no mouse or bag)
• You can use your student card or barcode on the UniSA App to borrow/return
  • Follow the instructions on the screen to borrow or return a laptop
  • When returning, you must plug the charger (from the self service machine) back in to the laptop

For more information and software installed on the computer check out the Laptop Borrowing page

Printing, scanning and photocopying facilities are available in each campus library and are managed by UniSA IT.

You can find more information about using these facilities at the Printing, Scanning & Photocopying page, or report issues to the IT Help Desk.

Printing quotas can be topped up through the student app. More information about printing and quotas can be found at Student Printing on Campus.

What does this mean? These terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not always the same thing. Scholarly or academic is an umbrella term for several different kinds of authoritative and credible sources including peer reviewed articles, some books and resources known as ‘grey literature’.

To find peer reviewed journal articles, start by searching the Library Catalogue using your keywords. When your search results appear, you can refine them to show only peer reviewed.

From the Refine Search options on the left-hand side

• Under Show Only select Peer-reviewed Journals and
• Under Resource Type select Articles

If you want to be sure an article is peer-reviewed, you can search for the journal title using Ulrichsweb: Global Serials Directory.

Further information can be found in the How to Find Scholarly Sources guide or the Study help: Scholarly Sources Explained video on the Guides and Assignment Help page of the Library website.

You can find your course readings via the eReadings link in the Course Essentials panel of your LearnOnline course page, or for UniSA Online, the eReadings link in the Resources menu of your course page.

These links take you to eReserve, UniSA's system for course reading lists.

Check out the short video below to see how to use eReserve. If you are having trouble accessing a reading, please let us know about it by phone, chat, or our contact form.

Study rooms are available on each campus and can be booked through the student app or the Library website.

Rooms can be booked for a maximum of 2 hours per student per day, up to 1 week in advance.

There are also a range of instructional videos that can help you to make the most of the technology in the study rooms.

The Referencing Roadmap can help you reference a wide variety of resources in the Harvard-UniSA style.

If you need more help with referencing or using other referencing styles, you can use the Referencing section of the Study Help webpage.

If you have a difficult question, you can post it on the Referencing Forum and the UniSA Learning Advisors will provide assistance.

The Harvard-UniSA style is not supplied by EndNote, so you will need to download and save it to the ‘Styles’ folder after you have installed EndNote but before you use it.

See the EndNote guide for instructions on how to download the Harvard UniSA style.