I have had very positive experiences with UW librarians who have been extremely helpful with developing skills for utilizing libraries for research, especially literature reviews. There is so much to learn as a PhD student and I continually try to remind myself that I don’t need to know everything, I just need to know who knows what I need to learn next and how I can ask them for help.
The librarians supported my literature review process to be much more efficient. Uniquely my research incorporated digital storytelling methodology and the libraries were able to help me identify resources for creative commons materials.
The UW Libraries are not just one library, but a network of 16 different libraries across the three UW campuses (Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell), plus an outpost on Friday Harbor. Many libraries have a special disciplinary focus, with unique material related to the discipline and librarians with subject expertise. New graduate students should visit their campus library’s website to become familiar with the basic resources and services of the UW Libraries.
- UW Seattle Libraries
- Some of the specialized libraries based on the Seattle campus:
- Engineering Library
- Foster Business Library
- Gallagher Law Library (not administratively part of the UW Libraries)
- Health Sciences Library
- Tateuchi East Asia Library
- Some of the specialized libraries based on the Seattle campus:
- UW Tacoma Library
- UW Bothell Library
UW Libraries Search
UW Libraries Search is the main search tool (i.e., catalog) for discovering books, films, and other material available at the UW Libraries across all three campuses. It also includes material available at our partner academic libraries in the Pacific Northwest (Summit) as well as articles covering all fields.
UW Libraries Search is a good place to start your research especially if you are looking for material held at the UW Libraries or want to do a one-stop, broad search across disciplines and material formats. Search results can be filtered based on availability, campus, format, language, publication date, and more. The Advanced Search option provides more choices to frame your search.
Students can access material from any UW campus library with their NetID (online items such as ebooks and articles) or Husky Card (physical items such as printed books). In addition, you can request books from our Summit partner libraries via UW Libraries Search.
Learn more on the UW Libraries Search FAQ.
Research Guides
One of the first steps in library research is to determine the most relevant databases for scholarly material in your field. Though UW Libraries Search is a good starting point, the UW Libraries provides access to hundreds of specialized, subject-specific databases for in-depth research. So where to start?
Research guides, created by librarians with disciplinary expertise, list the major databases for more than 50 subject areas. Depending on the subject, guides can include links to specialized encyclopedias and handbooks, journals, primary sources, non-English sources, streaming media, and more. In addition, most research guides include contact information for the subject librarian.
All three campuses, as well as the Health Sciences Library, have a suite of research guides for you to use. If your research is interdisciplinary, you may want to check multiple research guides to identify relevant databases and resources.