• Use the Library Catalogue, which is available on workstations in the Library, or from anywhere else via the Internet, directly from the Library homepage.

• Search by Title (type in the exact title of the magazine or journal)

• When a magazine / journal is listed on the Catalogue, check to see in which Branch Library it is held (Warrnambool / Glenormiston / Hamilton / Portland)

• If available, note down the Call Number and visit the Library to borrow it.

Other options:

• Use the full-text databases, InfoTrac OneFile  (1980-  )and Australia / New Zealand Reference Centre, both of which are available on workstations in the Library, or from anywhere else via the Internet, directly from the Library homepage.  (If accessing from outside the Library, you will need a password, as they are only available for South West TAFE students and staff.  The password is available from the Library). 

• Search by Title (type in the exact title), or Author.

• If listed, access the full-text by clicking on the title of the article, or the link labelled "Text". 

[top]

• Use(available only to SWTAFE staff and students) Australian Standards Online , which is available on workstations in the Library.


• Search by the Title (type in the first part of the title), or the Number of the specific Standard you are looking for.


• Access the full-text by clicking on the "View Document" link.

[top]

Online search tools are available which make the job of finding information on a topic easier:

The Library Catalogue is a good starting point.  It lists all the books, magazines / journals, audio visual material etc. held at the South West TAFE Library.

Online databases are excellent tools for finding magazine / journal articles ( InfoTrac OneFile  and Australia / New Zealand Reference Centre (available only to SWTAFE staff and students)), and newspaper articles ( Australia / New Zealand Reference Centre  and the Age Schools Archive(available only to SWTAFE staff and students) )

It is useful to set limits on your search right from the start:

• Coverage: Australian / International?

• Date of publication: Current / last 5 years / all dates?

• Amount of information: you can't expect to find everything that has been published on a topic, so its often worthwhile to concentrate on a small number of key sources.

[top]

Plan your search:

Online Search Planner [printable guide]

Write down your topic in a sentence or two, or as a question.

Make a list of relevant Keywords, and try to think of additional terms.

Sort Keywords into logical groups.

Create search statements by linking the Keywords together using and / or / not and using Truncation* where appropriate.

and        Retrieves sources containing both Keywords
or           Retrieves sources containing either Keyword
not         Excludes sources containing the Keyword that follows
*            Truncation: e.g. school* will retrieve the word school, schools, schooling etc.

(Please note, the truncation symbol on the Library Catalogue is $

[top]

Example keyword search statements:

photoshop and manual*

photoshop and (manual* or handbook*)

[top]