Research tips

What literature is available on my topic?

Bibliographic databases record literature in their subject area as comprehensively as possible and independently of its existence in a library or its publication type. In particular, they also list non-independently published literature (articles, essays), which is not normally included in library catalogs. You can therefore find out what literature is available on a topic, but generally not where you can obtain it. However, this can then be determined with the help of the source information, e.g. via a library catalog.

In the database information system (DBIS) you will find our range of the most important subject databases for each subject area for your subject-specific research, in particular for articles and essays.

How do I search for different manifestations of literature?

A book (monograph) is a self-contained work. It belongs to independently published literature. You can find a book using the author's name, other personal names, title or ISBN; for a thematic search, use keywords.

Example for the bibliographic information of a book:
Ingenieurholzbau : Grundlagen, Bemessung, Nachweise, Beispiele ; mit 219 Tabellen. 2nd, completely revised ed. -Wiesbaden : Vieweg , 2009. ISBN 978-3-519-15248-4

Search in such_da

A publication with self-contained contributions by several authors that relate to the topic or title of the work is called a collective work. Typical collective works are, for example, handbooks, encyclopaedias, congress and commemorative publications. Journals and newspapers are also collective works. To find a specific article in a journal, you need the author and title of the article as well as the year, issue and page number.

Search in such_da

The most comprehensive reference for journals with ownership records from libraries throughout Germany is the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB)

Essays appear in books, magazines or newspapers. This is why they are referred to as dependent literature. Some catalogs do not list essays. In this case, you should therefore search for the title of the book or journal in which the essay appeared and not for the author or the title of the essay itself. If you are looking for articles on a specific topic, start a thematic search and use bibliographies or databases.

Search in such_da "Articles and more"

Example of an article:
Mariotti, F. : Learning to share knowledge in the Italian motorsport industry. In: Knowledge and Process Management 14 (2007), Iss. 2, 81-94 -ISSN: 1092-4604

This article has been published in the journal Knowledge and Process Management. It is the 14th volume of the journal from 2007, the issue is issue 2, the article can be found on pages 81 to 94.

E-Tutorials

The ULB Münster has created an e-tutorial on academic writing.
Lotse - ULB Münster.

You can find tips on correct citation in the
Citation guide TU Munich