Searching for materials
There are many different sources to get information from. Think about what information you need and what sources might be useful. A good place to start your search is the Search bar on the library's website.
Search for books and e-books
A good place to start your search is in the large search box at the top of the library's website. Narrow your search by using the filters for e-books & printed books.
You can also search for books in LIBRIS, Sweden's national common library catalogue.
Electronic books
Chalmers e-books are always available and can be read by many people at the same time. They can be accessed from home for those of you who have a Chalmers ID (CID). If you do not have a CID, you can read e-books on the library's public computers.
e-book platforms:
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E-books and some journals from De Gruyter with imprints such as Birkhäuser. Includes many titles in architecture & design. In English and German.
E-books in various subjects, also social sciences and humanities.
E-books in information technology, engineering and business. Skillport replaces the earlier platform Books24x7.
E-books and reference works from Taylor & Francis incl. CRC Press. Here you can find e-books and reference works in scientific and technical disciplines as well as social sciences.
E-journals, e-books & reference works from the publisher Wiley.
Scientific search engines
When you are about to start writing a thesis or have another task where you need to read up on the subject, it can be good to start with an encyclopedia to sort out terms and concepts. Wikipedia is a good start and today the facts are mostly correct. But keep in mind that a wikipedia article can have several different authors with different purposes and that information can be added or removed as you write your text.
A wikipedia article is therefore not suitable as a reference, instead always look up the original source. AccessScience is a scientific encyclopedia in the fields of technology that is better used as a reference.
When you have learned the terms and concepts of the subject, it is time to search for scientific articles.
Google Scholar is a free search engine that is included in the library's database list. Google Scholar searches the web and locates scholarly material. But in order to access the full text, you must be logged in to the Chalmers network or with your CID when you are off campus. If you are not logged in, you sometimes only access summaries or abstracts. Also keep in mind that anyone can upload material to Google Scholar and that it is not always peer-reviewed. It is also difficult to do deeper, more detailed searches so see Google Scholar as a supplement to searching the scientific databases we have listed below so as not to miss valuable information.
Another academic search engine is BASE – Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, one of the world's most comprehensive search engines for academic material. It is maintained by the Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld and searches for open access resources.
Search for scientific material
Articles
You can search for scientific articles in the Search bar on the library's website, limit to articles. Chalmers' library also has access to a large number of databases that you can search in. To find the most useful databases for your program, see the respective subject guide.
Databases
Below we have listed some of the largest interdisciplinary databases:
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An abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature within all disciplinces. Tools for citation searches
A database of chemical and related science information from Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). Search substances and reactions, or journal and patent citations
An abstract and citation database – and a citation index - of peer-reviewed scientific literature within all disciplines.
Dissertations and theses in fulltext within sciences and engineering. Coverage is international but most comprehensive for North America.
Fulltext archive of articles from Swedish newspapers, trade journals, and news agencies (TT, Dagens eko).
Information about national and international patents from the European Patent Office.
Artikelsök is a database for Swedish journal and magazine articles, including a wide range of subject areas. It is used to find articles in various disciplines and related fields. The database is in Swedish.
