Distance Learning - TESOL: Searching

Library resources, services, and support for Distance Learning TESOL students

Searching the Library's Collections

You can search all of the Library's resources using the search box below or on the Library homepage.  When you use this you'll find details of the print and online resources the Library has.

The Search box also searches all of the databases the Library has access to.  Some of the databases it searches are full-text databases, others are abstracting and indexing services, which tell you what's been published, but the university doesn't have full-text access to all of these.  Use the filters on the left-hand side of the results screen to limit to what you can access full-text and online.  

You aren't restricted to only using what's available online.  If there are print books or print journals in the Library we may be able to scan these and send them to you.  There are restrictions on how much of a book, or how many articles from a journal issue we can scan, these are determined by UK Copyright, to request a scan please email library@st-andrews.ac.uk with the details of what you need and we will advise on the best way to proceed.

UK-based students can also request postal loans of the print books.  There is a charge of £6.70 to cover postage and insurance for this service, and you will need to pay the return postal charges as well.

Searching for Books & E-books

If you're searching for e-books using the Search box above or the Library webpage:

  1. enter the search term (keyword, book title, author) into the search box and click Search
  2. to limit to e-books you have access to select "Catalogue" and then "Online" from the options on the left of the results screen
  3. Click the green "eBook" button to the right of the title you want to view
  4. Login with your University of St Andrews username and password.

Search the Library

Ebooks guide

E-books are supplied with different license restrictions depending on supplier.  Guidance on what you get with different e-book suppliers can be found on our guide.  If you're having any problems using e-books, or have any questions about using them, please email the Library and we'll get back to you.

Searching for Journal Articles

Use the Search box below, or on the Library Homepage to search for journal articles.

When you know the details of an article:

  1. Search using the most unique piece of information about the article, which is normally the title of the article
  2. From the results select "Journal articles" under Format on the left of the screen
  3. From the results select "Full text".  
  4. Some of the results may advise "Please log in to see more detail" - click to login, and login using your university username and password
  5. If the article you want isn't listed, then the Library may not have a subscription to the journal the article is from.  If you want to double check you can search using the journal Publication title to see if the Library has a subscription.
  6. If the article you want is listed in the results, click the green button on the right to access it, this will be labeled as "PDF" or "Full text from ....." or "Find Full text"
  7. You may need to login a second time to access the journal article, use your University username and password.

When you search by topic:

  1. Enter your keywords or phrases into the search box 
  2. From the results select "Journal articles" under Format on the left of the screen
  3. From the results select "Full text".  
  4. Some of the results may advise "Please log in to see more detail" - click to login, and login using your university username and password
  5. You should now see all the articles which are available full-text for you to access.  Click the green button on the right to access an article, this will be labeled as "PDF" or "Full text from ....." or "Find Full text"
  6. You may need to login a second time to access the journal article, use your University username and password.