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Finding Information: Accessing the Full Text

Introduction to accessing the full text

How often have you found the perfect research article, only to realise its hidden behind a paywall? Or perhaps you've come across a preview of an expensive text on Google Books, only to realize it excludes the crucial chapter you need for your assignment.

In such circumstances, it may be tempting to resort to incomplete, outdated, or unsuitable information – how else are you going to finish your assignment, right?

Accessing the full text

Can't find the full text?

Did you know that Google and Google Scholar are more like windows than doors? What we mean by this is that you can often see all the great resources you want to access but have no clear way of getting to them.

So, where’s the door? The library, of course! The library purchases and subscribes to a wide range of academic content – just because you can’t access a source found on Google from home, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be able to access the same source via Discovery.

Here are our top tips for accessing the full text: 

  1. Copy and paste the source title into Discovery – if we have access, it’ll pop up as one of the first results. Click the blue “View” button; you’ll be prompted to log in with your standard University of Suffolk credentials.
  2. Enable Library Links in your Google Scholar settings; it’ll join up your search results with our library catalogue! Watch the video here (0.50 seconds) for guidance. 
  3. If you’re conducting a search in a database, don’t be tempted to apply the “full-text” filter. Just because an article isn’t available in one database, it doesn’t mean it won’t be available elsewhere. See tip one for guidance.

Still can't find the full text? 

If you're unable to find the resource you're looking for in Discovery, it's likely that the library doesn't have access to it. Not to worry! We can attempt to source it for you via our resource request service! 

We will either:

  1. Loan the resource from other UK universities via our interlibrary loan scheme
  2. Purchase the item as a permanent addition to our library collection

Click here to learn more about this service, and submit a request.