Like many different apps and websites, there's a lot of things you can do on this platform which are extra to the basic reason you want to use it for in the first place, and the other pages in this section will go into more detail on the different features of the platform. This page looks at the basics of access, searching and reading articles on UK & Ireland Reference Centre (Reference Centre)
Like other library resources, access to Reference Centre is through a method called a referring URL This uses a process that checks that the web page that you came from is set up to access Reference Centre. The web page to get to there is a password-protected page on this site that you can find linked on the Access page of this section.
Reference Centre is available to all learners and staff in the FET sector. To request access, contact the library using an institutional (ETB/Training Centre/College) email address. We can't accept requests from webmail accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail because if you use one of these accounts we can't tell if you're a FET sector staff member or learner
Basic searching uses a Google-like search box. Enter your search terms and click the search button. To search for a phrase, put quotation marks around it. For example, to search for healthy eating enter "healthy eating" As you start typing you may see, just like Google again, suggested searches appear below the search box and may give you some ideas for different search terms.
You can use the Search Options link below the search box to limit your search
You have a lot of options with your results. You can:
Advanced searching lets you construct more complicated searches, for example, by searching for specific search terms in specific parts of an item (e.g., title, author, abstract or full-text - so for example, you could search for articles on Brexit written by a specific author)), limiting the results to certain publication or document types and using Boolean Operators (AND, OR NOT) to combine search terms.
You can also search and browse the different publications covered by Reference Centre and see coverage and full-text availability. You can also select a publication and browse issues or search for items within that publication only
You can set up a personal account to use in Reference Centre and other EBSCO databases
A personal account, called a MyEBSCO account lets you:
All these are saved in a personal folder that is stored online and accessible from any device once you sign in.
To create and use a personal MyEBSCO folder account, you must allow cookies to be stored by your browser.
