Discovery Search: Accessing Discovery Search

A guide to using VT Libraries' Discovery Search.

What Is Discovery Search?

Discovery Search includes records for most of the library’s resources: our physical collections, our journal and ebook subscriptions, streaming videos, reports, government publications, and much more. You can use limiters to narrow your search results by the format, date of publication, peer-reviewed, and availability online. 

Locating Discovery Search

Find Discovery Search on the library's homepage, right at the top of the page. 

Discovery Search box

Do I need to sign in?

You do not need to be signed in to any VT login services in order to search in Discovery Search, but signing in will give you the chance to view your library account or save items for later. To access the full text of an article or ebook, click on the link, and if you need to be authenticated as a member of the VT community, you'll be prompted to sign in using 2-factor authentication after you try to access the full text. 

When you're looking at the page of results, you may notice a link at the top right corner of the page that says "Sign in":

Sign in link

You can choose to sign in using your VT 2-factor authentication or borrower's credentials (for those not affiliated with the university): 

Sign in screen

When you sign in with a VT account, you'll be asked which information you'd like to share; select Accept. 

Once you've created an account and signed in, you can view your library account, including your current loans and requests:

  My account menu

You can also save search queries and add results to your favorites list using the pin icon: