Omni

This 1-minute video explains the difference between search scopes: "Trent Library", "Trent + Omni Libraries", and "Add results beyond Trent's collection".

The narrator reads the text on the screen.

Please Note:

The "Course Reserves" option shown in the video no longer appears in Omni. Course readings are now accessed through "Readings & Resources" in your Blackboard courses.

Omni is a scholarly search tool. It searches a multitude of academic databases and resources around the world, bringing all the results together on your desktop.

You have options to limit or expand the breadth of resources you see.  That's called the "scope" of your search. These are the scope options and the resources they include.

Trent Library (Default)

This is the default search from the Omni search bar. It's showing what's immediately available to you through our library, including:

• physical items (books, videos, maps, etc.) in either branch of the Trent Library
• ebooks, and (sometimes) chapters within those ebooks, available through the Trent Library
• journals, and articles within those journals, available through the Trent Library
• any of our online full text content available through the library

Use this search for anything you want access to immediately.

Trent + Omni Libraries

This is a drop-down menu option in the Omni search bar - enter search terms to see it. It shows you:

• everything in the Trent Library (physical and online), PLUS
• physical items in any of the other Omni Libraries
  • allows you to request items from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan
  • Omni libraries are other Ontario University Libraries

Add Results Beyond Trent

This is an option from your RESULTS screen, not the search bar. It expands your results to show you:

• online items that are not currently available through the Trent Library, but which can be requested via Interlibrary Loan
• these weren't shown in any of the above searches, because Trent doesn't subscribe to them (no full text)

Newspapers

This is a separate search, available from the top page links or the results page. It:

• searches only newspapers, including free online titles and those that require a subscription
• includes descriptions of articles NOT available through Trent (not full text)
• shows results that are NOT included in any of the other types of searches