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Changes to Start Your Research, EBSCOhost databases and Periodicals List

Start Your Research and EBSCOhost databases will have a new look soon

Start Your Research (SYR) and EBSCO databases have a new look as of December 16, 2024.  

This guide will help you know what to expect and provide resources for additional information. 

What do I need to do?

  • If you do not have a personal acount... do nothing.

  • If you have a personal account...you may need to merge your accounts. See these sections in the FAQs (linked here) for clarification.

    • Will I still have my saved articles and searches?

    • Will my my journal or search alerts still be available?

What is changing and why?

WHAT: 

The discovery experience and user interface is being redesigned to meet ever-evolving user expectations. From accessing, searching, choosing and using the library’s resources, some new features include 

  • personalized dashboards
  • new ways to share and like resources
  • reading eBooks, and much more.        

WHY:

The primary users of Start Your Research and EBSCOhost databases are undergraduate students. 

Changes reflect:

  • students' attitudes and expectations around web experiences which are formed broadly and from a young age by mobile technology, app design, social media, and search engines that support natural language searching.
  • simple, inviting and intuitive designs.

In designing the new EBSCO Discovery Service (locally branded as Start Your Research), EBSCO wanted to make sure that students didn’t feel intimidated or left out.  They looked closely at student research needs, behaviors, and the broader ecosystem of information and design that informs their expectations for what a library interface should feel like. 

PLEASE NOTE: Advanced searching tools are still available to meet the needs of intermediate researchers and research faculty.