The Library Catalog is a place to discover popular books, scholarly books, articles and more, available to you from the Vanderbilt Libraries. The catalog search box is located at the center of the library's homepage. It's another great starting point for seeing what information is out there on your topic and gathering background information. The tutorial videos below demonstrate how to search and use the various features of the catalog.
A scholarly, academic, or peer-reviewed journal is a published collection of articles written by scholars in the field. The articles present original research and undergo a peer-review process before publication. Before the article can be published, it is vetted by other scholars for quality and accuracy according to the journal's editorial standards (i.e. the peer-review process). To do a targeted search on a topic, you will want to search in the databases listed by subject. Click the link below to discover databases and other key resources in your subject area.
Grey Literature or "Gray Literature" is literature (often of a scientific or technical nature) that is not available through the usual bibliographic sources such as databases or indexes. It can be both in print and, increasingly, electronic formats.
Where to find it: Consider looking at white papers, policy statements, and more from the websites of government (CDC, HealthIT.gov, etc.) or professional organizations (AMIA, AHIMA, AMI, AOTA, APTA, etc.). Sometimes companies will publish grey literature in the form of white papers or market research.
The resources listed in the next tab are great spots for finding grey literature. In Google Scholar, search by using keywords such as report, "think tank," "white paper," policy, statistics, or limiting by domain to (.org, .edu, .gov).
Public Affairs Information Service: journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, etc. covering issues in the public debate.
Use this link to seamlessly access VU resources via Google Scholar both on and off campus.
You can also adjust your Google Scholar settings to display the Vanderbilt Findit@VU link to appear in search results and allow for access from on or off-campus. Access Google Scholar settings by visiting this page (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_settings).
Click library links on the left hand menu. in the search box, search for Vanderbilt and select: “Vanderbilt University Library – Findit@VU” (with uppercase F), Click Save.
Statistical data can be found in a variety of places, depending on the scope and original source of the data. The links below are to some of the websites where education data is collected and published. In addition, some library databases provide access to data from a broad range of fields.
To learn more about using ICPSR datasets, check out this research guide:
