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 AU Library Subject guides Digital Design and Information Studies

Subject Guide for Digital Design and Information Studies

In this guide you will find a selection of information resources within the subject areas of digital design and information science. You are always welcome to contact your liason librarian if you need assistance or have suggestions for additional content for this page.

Reference Works and Dictionaries – look things up here

A selection of the most relevant reference works and dictionaries.

View reference works and dictionaries

  • International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
    Reference work covering political science, international relations, sociology, psychology, economics, and communication.
  • UNESCO Thesaurus
    The UNESCO Thesaurus is a comprehensive and structured list of terms used for subject analysis and the indexing of documents and publications in education, culture, natural sciences, social and human sciences, communication, and information.
  • Oxford Reference Online – Premium Collection
    An e-book platform containing a large collection of authoritative reference works and dictionaries.
  • Lex.dk
    Denmark’s national encyclopedia with more than 245,000 Danish-language articles written by scholars and subject specialists.
  • Ordbogen.com
    Provides integrated electronic access to Ordbogen.com and Gyldendal’s Dictionaries and many other specialist dictionaries.
  • Dictionary of Computing
    A reference work with more than 6,000 entries on theories, software, and IT.
  • Dictionary of the Internet
    Definitions of professionally relevant terms relating to the Internet, software, technology, e-commerce, cybersecurity, and more.

Article Databases, Journals and Journal Platforms – read new research articles here

A selection of sources through which you can access electronic scholarly journal articles.

See article databases

  • JSTOR
    Full-text access to leading academic journals across all disciplines. Most recent 3–5 years are usually excluded.
  • Project MUSE
    Peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and social sciences with access to current and older issues.
  • ACM Digital Library
    Covers computer science, information science, media studies, and related fields.
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete
    Indexes journals in communication, mass media, and related disciplines.
  • EBSCOhost
    A broad multidisciplinary research platform with a user-friendly interface.
  • ProQuest
    A major collection of databases covering humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and medicine.
  • Sage Journals Online
    Peer-reviewed journals in social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and engineering.
  • ScienceDirect
    Journals and books from Elsevier and other publishers across all major disciplines.
  • Scopus
    A large abstract and citation database covering more journals than any other index.
  • Springer Nature Link
    Access to articles, journals, and books across all disciplines.
  • Taylor & Francis Online Journals
    High-quality journals from Taylor & Francis, Routledge, Psychology Press, and others.
  • Web of Science
    A major multidisciplinary citation and bibliographic database.
  • Communication Research
    A peer-reviewed journal published six times per calendar year. It publishes research in communication and related fields.
  • Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
    A peer-reviewed international journal published four times per calendar year. It publishes research across a broad range of Science and Technology Studies (STS).
  • History and Technology
    A leading international journal in research on technology and history. All articles are peer-reviewed.
  • Science, Technology & Human Values
    Published since 1972. A peer-reviewed international journal focusing on Science and Technology Studies (STS).
  • Technology and Culture
    A leading journal in the field of the history of technology. All articles are peer-reviewed.

Online and In-Person Courses

A selection of online and in-person courses relevant to your field.

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Open Scholarly Repositories

Open scholarly repositories contain titles, abstracts, and sometimes full texts from a large number of articles, working papers, and similar materials. Content in open repositories is not curated in the same way as in established scholarly databases, so you should apply critical judgement when evaluating search results. You can search these repositories either through an AI search tool or directly in the repository.

View open repositories

  • OpenAlex
    Aggregates data from sources including PubMed, arXiv, DOAJ, Unpaywall, Zenodo, and ORCID.
  • Semantic Scholar
    Aggregates data from sources including PubMed, arXiv, and publishers such as Sage, Springer, Wiley, and Taylor & Francis.
  • Lens
    Aggregates data from sources including PubMed, OpenAlex, Crossref, and Unpaywall.
  • Crossref
    Works with a large number of publishers and institutions to provide open metadata for articles, books, preprints, datasets, and more.

Company and Market Information

Databases with information on Danish and international companies.

View company and market information

  • ABI/INFORM Global
    One of the most comprehensive databases in the field of business and economics. ABI/INFORM provides access to news on market trends and financial markets.
  • Business Source Complete
    A bibliographic database focused on business and management research.
  • Kompass
    A business directory covering companies in trade and economics.

Newspapers and Media Archives – find news articles here

A selection of sources where you can find Danish and international news.

View newspapers and media

  • Retriever (formerly InfoMedia)
    Retriever (formerly InfoMedia) is a large newspaper database providing full-text articles from a wide range of Danish national, regional, and local daily newspapers, local weekly papers, trade journals, periodicals, magazines, and news and press agencies. Coverage generally dates back to approximately 1985.
  • Mediestream
    Mediestream contains radio and television broadcasts from selected Danish channels since December 2005. The service is continuously updated with the latest radio and television programmes; however, there is always a delay of approximately two weeks before new broadcasts become available.
  • Royal Danish Library’s DR Archive
    The archive currently contains television and radio broadcasts from 1950 to 2024, with much more content forthcoming. Both older and the newest broadcasts will be added continuously until the DR Archive is fully completed. In addition, efforts are ongoing to make the broadcasts more searchable and easily accessible.
  • Factiva
    A database providing access to newspapers from around the world. Partial full-text is available.
  • ITWatch
    ITWatch provides in-depth coverage of Danish IT and telecommunications companies, focusing on the business behind the products, including strategy, management, performance, competition, politics, orders, acquisitions, innovation, profiles, careers, job changes, and more. ITWatch is part of Watch Medier, which targets readers with an interest in society and business.
  • The Netarchive (Netarkivet)
    The Netarchive collects and preserves the Danish part of the Internet in accordance with the Legal Deposit Act.

E-books – read new e-books here

Find relevant e-book collections below.

View our e-book collections

  • Ebook Central
    An e-book platform covering all subject areas. The books, primarily in English, are published by well-established academic publishers.

  • Oxford Scholarship Onlin
    Oxford Scholarship Online provides access to a broad range of books from Oxford University Press. Aarhus University Library subscribes to subject packages in classical studies, linguistics, literature, economics and finance, philosophy, political science, law, politics, religion, biology, and public health.

AI tools for literature searching

AI search tools can supplement your other literature searches, for example at the beginning or the end of your search process. The tools are constantly evolving and often include both free and paid features. The AI tools typically search through content from open, scientific archives.

See AI search tools and open archives

AI search tools

  • Asta
    Ask an academic question in ‘Find papers’ and get an answer based on selected sources from the open archive Semantic Scholar. Asta does a thorough ”deep search” when trying to find the most relevant sources. Create a free user profile to save your searches.
  • Elicit
    Ask an academic question in ‘Find papers’ and get an answer based on selected sources from the open archive Semantic Scholar. The answer is supplemented by a table with key points from the sources. Requires a free user profile.
  • Inciteful
    Enter an article title or DOI and get a network of articles that share citations with the entered article. The citation network is based on content from the open archives OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, Crossref, and OpenCitations.
  • Perplexity
    Ask an academic question and get an answer based on selected sources. Choose ‘Academic’ and search within scientific sources from the open archive Semantic Scholar and the PubMed database. Create a free user profile to save your searches.
  • ResearchRabbit
    Enter one or more articles or DOIs and get a network of articles that share citations with the entered articles. The citation network is based on content from open archives such as OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar. Requires a free user profile.
  • Scite
    Ask an academic question in ’Assistant’ or ’Tables’ or do a keyword search in ’Search’ and get an answer based on selected sources from Scite’s own scientific database. For most sources a citation network classifies whether a citation mentions, supports, or contrasts the source. As an AU user you have access through a license from AU Library. Create a user profile to get access to additional features.
  • Undermind
    Ask an academic question and get an answer based on selected sources from the open archive Semantic Scholar. Undermind does a thorough ”deep search” when trying to find the most relevant sources. Requires a free user profile.

Open archives

Open, scientific archives contain titles, abstracts, and sometimes the full text of a large number of articles, working papers, etc. The content in the open archives is not selected in the same way as in established scientific databases, so reflect critically on your search results. You can search the open archives either via an AI search tool or directly in the archive.

  • OpenAlex
    Retrieves data from sources such as PubMed, arXiv, DOAJ, Unpaywall, Zenodo, and ORCID. 
  • Semantic Scholar
    Retrieves data from sources such as PubMed, arXiv, and publishers like Sage, Springer, Wiley, and Taylor & Francis.
  • Lens
    Retrieves data from sources such as PubMed, OpenAlex, Crossref, and Unpaywall.
  • Core
    Collects metadata and, in many cases, the full text of scientific articles.
  • Crossref
    Collaborates with a wide range of publishers and institutions to provide open metadata, e.g., on articles, books, preprints, datasets, etc.

Resources for Academic Writing and Literature Searching

Here you will find links and materials to support you when writing assignments and conducting literature searches.

Find resources for academic writing and literature searching

  • Cultural Heritage for Research and Study
    The Royal Danish Library holds extensive cultural heritage collections, both physical and digital. This service overview shows what is available for research and study.
  • Reference Management
    Correct citation of other people’s work is essential in your own writing.
  • Copyright
    Information on copyright rules relevant to your studies.
  • Information Searching
    A collection of guidance on how to search for information and how to find the materials you need quickly and effectively.
  • Write Your Assignment
    Guidance on all stages of the academic writing process, including how to formulate a research question, structure your assignment, and make the most of your supervision.

Libraries within your field of study

Liaison librarians

Erling Hansen

Librarian
M
H 5335, 198
P +4591356435

Karoline Liv Vildlyng

Information Specialist
M

P +4591356432
Revised 21.01.2026
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