The Discovery Search allows RMU Library users to search the majority of RMU Library subscription databases and other resources (i.e. ROBCAT) from a single search box.
What is included in RMU Library’s Discovery Search?
Most journal article and other periodical-based subscription resources + ROBCAT; for instance, Discovery indexes approximately 97% of the resources found in ProQuest Central and 100% of the resources found in Academic Search Complete. Publisher and vendor partners include Emerald, JSTOR, Project Muse, Springer, Wiley Blackwell, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, etc.; all of the resources from these publishers that RMU Library subscribes to can be accessed through a Discovery Search.
What types of resources are not currently included in RMU Library’s Discovery Service?
Most non-periodical based content, For example:
-BNA
-Cabell’s
-Datamonitor
-Faulkner Advisory for IT Studies
-Global Road Warrior
-HaPI
-Issues & Controveries
-Local Market Audience Analyst (SRDS)
-SBRNet
-STAT!Ref
-Times (U.K.) Digital Archive
What is different about a Discovery search vs. searching all subscribed EBSCO databases simultaneously.
Again, Discovery includes full-text journal and other periodical articles from many publishers that are not available in full text through EBSCO databases.
The Discovery Service also includes records for books, media, etc., through the inclusion of ROBCAT.
Lastly, the Discovery Service is intended to be a very broad search, so you should notice quite a large number of results for your searches. RMU Library’s Discovery Search is customized to default to search within the full-text of articles for the keywords you enter (vs. searching in just the title, subject or abstract fields). It is also setup to default to a Boolean/Phrase searching style, meaning keyword search phrases are prioritized in search results but several keywords separated by less than three other words will also be retrieved within search results. Of course, you can always refine your search by checking and unchecking various search parameters, (peer-reviewed publications, materials published in last five years, etc.).
Why does the Discovery Search default to limiting to items in the RMU Library collection?
With this search limiter in place, RMU Library users can immediately access information resources retrieved through search results, and – generally – still retrieve a fairly large number of search results. If the limiter is unchecked, items that are only available through subscribed databases in abstract format (necessitating the submission of ILL requests to access in full text format) are also included, as are items available through various open-access academic repositories (some in full text format, but many in record or abstract-only format) are also included.
How is using this Discovery tool different from searching via Google Scholar?
Essentially, Google Scholar is not as customizable, so a search in Google Scholar (when selecting “Robert Morris University Library” under Library Links in Preferences) includes more non-scholarly content and may also lead to more “dead ends” because of the lack of specificity included in the dates of coverage for subscribed periodicals.
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