Skip to Main Content

Creativity: Innovation & Business Strategy Subject Guide: Online library support

Help and guidance on finding resources in your subject area

Welcome to the Creativity: Innovation & Business Strategy Subject Guide

Use this guide to help you make the most of the library and information resources and services.

New to the University?  Explore the Getting Started with the Library guide to learn all about the Library basics. 

Your Librarian at Exeter

Profile Photo
Nicola Nye (Exeter)

Dissertation workbook

Library events @ Streatham Campus

Where to start your search

Library Search


Library Search will help you discover books, journals, articles, audio visual material and more on your chosen topic. This is a good place to start when you are beginning to research a topic as you can draw on content from a variety of different sources.

For more in depth research in databases and archives, use the A-Z Databases List.

Key databases

Key research databases

These databases index the global literature and provide references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports etc. These databases are multidisciplinary, covering many subjects, but will contain scholarly content relating to the field of the creative industries.

There are a wide range of online resources that will help you trace journal articles, conference papers, reports, theses and much more, to support your  study and research.  

You have access to further resources via the Business subject list area in the A-Z Databases list.

The Business Subject Guide provides a useful section explaining the different databases in the Recommended Databases section.

Business Case Studies

Art History and Visual Culture Databases

The following databases will help you discover material related to art history and visual culture. You have access to further resources via the Art History and Visual Culture subject list area in the A-Z Databases list

 

Drama and performance databases 

The following databases will help you discover material related to drama. You have access to further resources via the Drama subject list area in the A-Z Databases list

 

Film and TV databases

Most of our film resources are available in digital format. These collections contain interviews, documentaries and film. 

 You have access to further resources via the Film Studies subject list area in the A-Z Databases list

Theses are academic sources of information and the result of substantial primary research into specialised topics. They provide very detailed data and analysis, and can provide information that is unavailable elsewhere. Their bibliographies can be a useful source of wider reading on a topic. They are extremely valuable sources of information.

Search for University of Exeter, UK and international theses here: Theses LibGuide.

A-Z database imageUse the A-Z Database List to access the full list of databases the library subscribes to.  

You can browse by subject e.g. Drama or by type (e.g. audio-visual, news, images etc.) or search to find your required resources.

Explore the full A to Z Database list:

Explore research materials available elsewhere

  • Library Hub Discover - Search the catalogues of over 100 major UK and Irish national, academic and specialist libraries to find books, journals and other materials

  • WorldCAT - Search the collections of over 10,000 worldwide libraries  

  • The European Library - Access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries.

  • The Library of Congress -  Catalogue records of the print and digital resources held in the Library of Congress collections (USA)

  • LibWeb - Find online library catalogues worldwide

  • CORE - Search the world's largest collection of open access research papers

I am looking for ...

Books

You have online access to hundreds of online books that cover business and the creative industries.  Use the Library Search to search by topic to discover relevant content.  Take a look at the following e-books to give you an idea of how you can search and browse online books like these.

Journals and journal articles

Most of our journal articles are available in digital format, although we do keep older print journals in the Forum Library.  

Our journal databases may offer full text access or abstracts only, or sometimes a mixture of both.

  • Full text access allows you to view or download the entire journal article from that database.
  • Abstract only access provides a summary of the content of a journal article and in many cases, links out to full-text sources held digitally in our collections.

Many of our databases fully index their content, by organising them under various subjects. This helps ensure that all potentially relevant articles are captured when searches are carried out.

Use Library Search to find Journal Titles and articles that relate to your research/study area.

For targeted searching, select a research database and explore the published literature in your field. Key databases are flagged above.

Primary Sources

The University has access to an extensive range of online primary source materials. These contain digitised copies of documents, letters, books, photographs and other primary sources. 

The Primary Sources Libguide will help you identify the best databases for your research. 

Creative magazines

These online magazines provide the latest information in the creative industries.

Effective Searching & Referencing

It is important to plan your search strategy, and manage your search results so that you get the most from your online searching.

Keep a record of all the material you need to cite in your assignments, papers, projects etc. 

Use the Search Techniques and Referencing guidance to assist you.

  • It is  easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of information available to you.  
  • Invest time in planning an effective online search strategy so that you can quickly and easily discover relevant and high quality information. 

 

As you search you need to keep track of all the material you will be using in your academic work so that you can cite and reference it appropriately.

Top Tip

Always check your module handbook for specific departmental guidance on the style required for your assessed works and dissertations.  Check with your personal tutor or dissertation supervisor if you need clarification.

For more guidance take a look at:

Build your skills and get help from the friendly academic skills teams.

Study Skills Support @ Exeter

Study Zone offers drop-ins, workshops and online guides on a range of study skills topics, including academic writing, referencing, time management, exams and revision, and digital skills.

ASK @ Cornwall

Find out all about academic skills support at the Cornwall campus. Take advantage of the online support materials available through the Study Hub.

Linking the University of Exeter Library to Google Scholar 

Google Scholar is an online, freely accessible search engine for locating scholarly literature  from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. But not all full text content is free to access.

However, it is possible to link the University of Exeter online library to  Google Scholar, making it quick to identify and access library full text content.

Just follow these instructions:


 

Click on Check for this @ Exeter or Access this @ Exeter options to view full text article:

Sage Research Methods Online (SRMO) is a great resource to use when you are planning and conducting your research. 

It is targeted at social science researchers but is useful across all subject areas as it covers key research methodology topics that are applicable across the research spectrum.

Sage have produced a comprehensive LibGuide to help you get the best from the resource.

Contact Us or Give Feedback

University of Exeter LibGuide is licensed under CC BY 4.0