Omni is our academic search tool that enables you to search for books, journals, articles, videos and much more, all from one interface.
Omni enables you to search different scopes of information collections: locally at Queen's, consortially with 13 other partner libraries, and beyond, via the vendor's vast database of electronic resources. Books that are not available at Queen's can be requested through interlibrary loan.
The Omni search box is featured on the Queen's Library homepage.
Omni includes content from the various research databases to which Queen's University Library subscribes but not everything is included. If you are looking for information on a very specific topic, or a topic that is subject specific, it is recommended that you search databases that specialize in that subject area for more thorough results.
A link to database search is available from the library homepage or consult the relevant library research guide to determine the recommended databases in your discipline.
For a much more comprehensive look at Omni, please consult the library's Omni Search Tips guide.
Basic Searching
The default search in Omni is basic search. Enter one or more keywords, choose the scope you wish to search (the scope is automatically set to Queen's + Omni Libraries. Basic search supports the use of Boolean operators: AND, OR or NOT, and they must be entered in uppercase (e.g. theater OR theatre).
To search for a specific phrase, type quotation marks around the phrase, otherwise AND is assumed between each word. (example: "mystery play").
Advanced Searching
Use the drop-down options to limit terms to specific fields and/or a combination of fields (Author, Title, Subject, Call number). Specific dates, languages, and resource types can be selected.
Use AND to tell the database that ALL search terms must be present in results. Narrows your search results |
music AND theatre AND medieval |
Use OR between words for synonyms. Broadens your search results | medieval OR "middle ages" |
Use NOT to exclude terms | motet AND dufay NOT palestrina |
Use quotation marks around phrases | "cultural relativism" |
? for single character wildcard (useful for variable spellings) | wom?n for woman, women |
* for truncation (multiple character wildcard). Useful for variant endings of a root word. | cultur* for culture, cultures, cultural, culturally |
brackets to group terms (nested searching) | play* AND (mystery OR morality OR miracle) |
Omni offers a number of useful tools that you can use to organize, save, and cite your research. Log into Omni to get the maximum use out of tools.
Citation icon | Select one of ten different citation styles and generate a citation to the item. Be sure to check citations for accuracy | |
Envelope icon | Email a record to the item | |
Pushpin icon | Save this item to your list of favourites in Omni | |
Citation trails | Lead to sources that cite the work or to references cited in the item | |
Ellipsis icon | Shows action options including citation, email, permalink, export to citation managers and print record |
In the right hand corner of Omni, you will see the option to sign in.
Signing into Omni will help optimize your search, and you will have access to special features, such as saving your favourite results. From your Favourites, you can label and collate personal collections and export citations to a citation manager. You can also check loans and requests, renew materials, access full text, view search history and create alerts.
Related Reading
Starting from an article of interest, related reading provides other relevant articles for the same topic.
(To enlarge this image, please right-select the image and open it in a New Tab)
Virtual Browse
Discover other books at Queen's on the same topic by browsing a virtual book shelf. Available in Omni records for print monographs, scroll to the bottom of the book's record to discover other print monographs that would be shelved with the item.
(To enlarge this image, please right-select the image and open it in a New Tab)