Research guide to multidisciplinary information resources
We have selected some resources for you from multidisciplinary sources of information.
Databases
We recommend that you search the databases in order to research and review up-to-date and discipline-specific content on a topic. They mostly contain references to resources as well as full text articles from journals. Depending on the database, additional types of publications such as conference reports, book chapters, pictures, videos and much more are included.
Overview
The table below provides an overview of multidisciplinary databases. Please note that databases marked with an asterisk (*) require special access information. You will find more information in the details of each database.
| Name | Content |
|---|---|
| Dissertations and Theses (Abstracts and Index) | references, abstracts of dissertations and theses |
| ESI - Essential Science Indicators | identification of the most important journal articles according to people, institutions, countries and journals |
| Google Scholar | search engine for scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources |
| Journal Citation Reports (JCR) | evaluation of academic journals according to the criteria of the Institute for Scientific Information (e.g. impact factor) |
| OECDiLibrary | statistics and studies on OECD countries |
| Scopus | Abstract and citation database for the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences |
| SRMO - SAGE Research Methods Online | case studies and full texts on social scientific research methods |
| Web of Science Core Collection | references with a focus on arts, humanities, social sciences, medicine, science and technology |
* Requires access information. You will find more information in the details of each database.
Open access portals
Search for scientific publications that are worldwide freely available, also known as open access publications.
Reference works
Reference works are the ideal starting point for your research. In addition to defining concepts, they help you to gain an overview of a topic, narrow down a topic and find key concepts for future work.
All electronic reference works can be found and searched in ZHAW swisscovery. General reference works can also be found with the monolingual (in German) and multilingual dictionaries (in German).
| Title | Additional information |
|---|---|
| Brockhaus | - |
| Encyclopaedia Britannica | - |
| Handbuch Qualität in Studium, Lehre und Forschung | - |
| Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie | - |
| Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre | - |
Statistics
| Title | Content | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Eurostat | statistics of EU member states, cooperation with a range of other countries, the OECD and the UN | freely accessible database |
| FH-Lohnstudie | wage data of various Swiss universities of applied sciences | |
| OECDiLibrary | access to all OECD studies and statistics | available content |
| Statista | reports, forecasts and infographics on various sector categories | available content and manuals |
| Statistik Schweiz | tables and reports on the Swiss population, society, state, economy and environment | freely accessible database |
| STAT-TAB | interactive database of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for the purposes of creating customised statistical tables | freely accessible database |
| Statistische Informationen über den Kanton Zürich | statistics on population and social affairs, labour and economy, public finances, real estate and land, politics, and spatial data | freely accessible data from 2008 to today |
Standards, Patents
Standards
| Title | Content | Access information |
|---|---|---|
| iNorm SIA + EN | Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) standards and European standards | replaced by SNV Connect |
| Normpositionenkatalog (NPK) | norm position catalogue (NPK) of the Swiss research centre for rationalisation in construction (CRB) | locally installed in Hall 180 (rooms G19/G29) |
| SNV Connect | full texts of IEC, SN (INB, Electrosuisse, SWISSMEM, SIA), ISO, SWKI | |
| VSS | standards (SN, EN, ISO) of the Swiss association of road and transportation experts | After registration, students receive a VSS membership free of charge, which includes a subscription to access the digital standards (in German). |
Patents
Patent law and patent registrations are demanding, which is why we recommend that you work together with specialists. You are required to undertake a professional patent search for patent registrations outside of Switzerland in order to check the novelty claim of an invention.
Further information and research
You can find further information and links here:
Research & Development intranet (in German - ZHAW login required)
A database is available at the ZHAW for patent research.
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Courses at University Library
Managing references
We regularly offer courses and guided tours on a range of topics.
Manage references, automatically insert quotations and create bibliographies.