eLearning Library Search Options

The library licenses a wide spectrum of databases for the UNI community. These include indexes and abstracts, which provide citations to the journal and report literature, aggregations of full text materials with their own indexing, such as Academic OneFile or LexisNexis Academic, and increasing numbers of electronic journals and other publications.

Accessing these electronic resources from Web-based course management sites such as eLearning is not difficult. Panther Prowler facilitates access to all of these resources. Because Panther Prowler can be accessed in different ways, successful integration of library resources into your course management site requires some up front decision making on your part. If you want to use a customized search form or predefined searches, select an option from the first section and place it in your course content. Alternatively, you may insert it into the eLearning Course Tools menu or into Web Links. However, if you want students to use search forms or categories that the library has designed, select an option from the second section.

Customized Search Forms

Log into the My Saved Databases section of Panther Prowler to create a customized search form for your class. Create a new collection by giving it a name and adding databases to it. Make the collection public. Cut and paste the public URL into a text editor. Add the following proxification line to the beginning of the URL so that your students can use the search form from off-campus.

https://login.proxy.lib.uni.edu/login?url=

Remove any spaces from the URL so that it looks like the following:

https://login.proxy.lib.uni.edu/login?url=https://www.lib.uni.edu/gateway/xerxes/ui/collections/subject/caswell/film-collection

Add the complete URL to your eLearning Web Links, create a separate item in the Course Tools menu, or embed it in a Course Content document. Each time the form is used the searches will be limited to the set of databases that you want the students to use for the course.

Linking to Journal Articles

Use the form in the middle of this page to generate a URL for an online journal article that you want your students to use. Take the resulting URL and place it in your course content. Each time it is used any of the current subscriptions provided by the library will be available for use by your students.

Linking to Electronic Journals

Use the form in the middle of this page to generate a URL for an online journal that you want your students to use. Take the resulting URL and place it in your course content. Each time it is used any of the current subscriptions provided by the library will be available for use by your students.

Library Homepage - Search Widgets

Link to the library's homepage from your course content or web links so that your students can start searching right away. Three search widgets selected by tabs provide access to articles, books, and course reserves. This is suitable for undergraduates who are starting the research process and are looking for basic information on their topics.

Panther Prowler

Link to this option from your course content or web links to provide your students with access to forty-eight predefined database categories. Each category consists of seven to ten databases and corresponds to a UNI field of study. This is suitable for undergraduates or graduate students who understand the disciplines they are searching and are looking for more advanced research information.

Databases A-Z

This option provides an A-Z list of all databases provided by the library. Some of the databases can be searched via Panther Prowler; others have to be searched via their vendors' interfaces. This is intended for more advanced students who need to search specific databases or have the knowledge that enables them to select databases that are appropriate to their topic.

Contact one of the following library staff:
Jerry V. Caswell
Stan Lyle
Chris Neuhaus