Research guides: Social Work Research: Get Started

Library services

Omni library catalogue

Omni seamlessly connects 15 partner Ontario university libraries through one library catalogue. Students, faculty, staff, and retirees may use Interlibrary loan (ILL) to request materials not found in the UWaterloo library system from these partner libraries free of charge. You can order materials directly through the Omni catalogue!

For further instruction on how to use Omni, check out the Getting Started with Omni guide created by Wilfred Laurier University library.

Interlibrary loan

Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to find books and articles that are not available in the University of Waterloo or Omni library system, or University of Waterloo article databases. Inter-library loan staff will let you know if your request can be filled. This is a free service. Delivery time is estimated at 7-10 days. Article requests are frequently fulfilled digitally.

Films, documentaries and streaming services

For film resources on uWaterloo campus, students and faculty can visit the Media Resources Library.

To find out what is available for borrowing of streaming, search their media catalogue. Check their frequently asked questions page to find answers about their services and access to streaming.

Baisic search techniques

Choose an appropriate resource
- Books
- Articles
  - Research Databases
  - Specific Journals
- Primary Sources
Break down your topic
- imagine the title of the ideal book or journal article
- identify the key concepts
- think of synonyms or alternate words for each of the key concepts; use reference works (handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries) for assistance
Use appropriate searching techniques
- boolean operators (and, or, not)
- phrase searching (" ")
- truncation/wildcard symbols (* or ?)
- field searching
- setting limits
- refining your search (using subject headings/descriptors and other terminology)