Summon FAQs

• What is Summon?
• How does Summon compare to the UBC Library Catalogue?
• How does Summon compare to Google Scholar?
• What's in Summon?
• I can't find [an article, a book] in Summon. Where can I find it?
• Does it look like the Library doesn't own the item?
• I click a link to a full-text article/e-book and get to a page marked "Citation Linker " How do I get to the full-text?
• How do I tell if a journal is indexed by Summon?
• How do I report problems with Summon?
• I'm having problems exporting citations from Summon to RefWorks. What should I do?
• Can I search Summon using my mobile phone?

What is Summon?

Summon is a search engine that provides a single starting point to find and access the majority of the UBC Library collections - including books, ebooks, scholarly journals and articles, newspaper articles, dissertations and theses, videos, maps, manuscripts, music scores, digitized items, and more. It is a hosted service from Serials Solutions, with the Summon knowledge base and UBC Library content combined into one unified index.

How does Summon compare to the UBC Library Catalogue?

The Library Catalogue is the main inventory of books, journal titles (print and online), media, and other documents held in the UBC Library collection. Summon is a search engine that searches every record in the Library Catalogue, plus a wide selection of scholarly articles and online records.

Summon excels at finding a multitude of resources on a topic when you search using keywords, like Google. When you need to find a specific item, such as a book or journal title, it is better to use the Library Catalogue and search by specific fields (i.e. author, title, call number, etc.).

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How does Summon compare to Google Scholar?

Summon and Google Scholar are both search engines that let you quickly search across a massive index of scholarly information.

Some content that is findable in Summon is not available in Google Scholar, and vice-versa. Neither is a "one-stop" research tool but is best used in conjunction with other available resources.

Relevance ranking of search results differs between the two and in both cases is a trade secret, so it is not possible to explain exactly how it works. However, Google Scholar does appear to place greater weight on citation counts whereas Summon's relevance ranking appears to favour "exact title" matches on your search keywords. For instance: a search for "practical grammar" will return items with the exact title "practical grammar" at the top. A search for "the practical grammar" will return almost identical results, but with priority given to titles with "the" in them.

Some features unique to Summon:

• Results are reflective of the UBC Library collection - Summon search results reflect content that UBC Library subscribes to or owns.
• Useful search refinements - "Refine your search" and "Content type".
• On the left side of the screen, you can "Refine your search" by various options.
• Popular choices for limiting your results are to select "Items with full text online" only or "Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer review".
• The default setting will exclude newspaper articles.
• You can also "Add results beyond your library's collection" to include items beyond UBC Library subscriptions. However, as they are not part of our subscriptions, you may need to submit an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request. Free and Open Access items will appear without ticking this box.
• You can also refine your results by Content Type.
• Check the boxes to select the options you want.
• Clicking on more options produces a pop-up box of other selections.

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What's in Summon?

Summon is a search engine that provides a single access point to find the majority of UBC Library Collections including:

• Print books and eBooks
• Scholarly journal articles
• Newspaper articles
• Theses and dissertations
• Digitized items
• Conference proceedings
• Images and music scores

Here's the list of publishers (Click on 'Download' for the PDF) that are indexed in Summon.

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I can't find [an article, a book] in Summon. Where can I find it?

Can't find a book in Summon? Try:

• Limiting your results to "Content Type: Book" (example)
• Doing an advanced search in Summon ("With these words in the title", "Written/created by")
• Doing a "Title" search in the Library Catalogue

Can't find an article in Summon? Try:

• Using an "exact phrase" search on the article title to narrow your results.
• Some articles are not findable in Summon (it does not provide 100% coverage of our journal collection).
• To do a thorough article search: See UBC Library's A-Z Journal List or search our Indexes & Databases. If you need more help finding articles on your topic, try the UBC Library Research Guides or contact a librarian.

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Does it look like the Library doesn't own the item?

Contact a librarian for assistance or, if you're sure we don't have the item, make an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request.

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I click a link to a full-text article/e-book and get to a page marked "Citation Linker " How do I get to the full-text?

If the full-text of the article is available, you can click on the "Article" link to get access from one of our subscription resources.

If the full-text isn't available, you can search for a print copy in the UBC Library Catalogue or request a copy of the article via Interlibrary Loan.

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How do I tell if a journal is indexed by Summon?

Consult the list of publishers (Click on 'Download' for the PDF) that are indexed in Summon.

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How do I report problems with Summon?

Submit a question to Library Electronic Resources Assistance.

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I'm having problems exporting citations from Summon to RefWorks. What should I do?

Consult the UBC Library RefWorks Guide for help.

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Can I search Summon using my mobile phone?

Yes, go to the Summon mobile phone alternate site.

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