Search over 25 databases at once, or search by category: Business, Engineering & Research or VDOT News & Media.

With so many free and subscription resources to choose from, starting a search can sometimes be overwhelming. Often there's simply not enough time to search in all the best databases, and sometimes it's hard to even know what databases are best for a specific topic...

That's why the library created VDOT OneSearch, a special kind of search tool that simultaneously searches over 25 business, engineering and transportation databases at once, including publicly accessible sites like VDOT's Youtube Channel and Flickr Photostream but also every core subscription held by VDOT, (like: ASCE Library, ASTM Compass, and Knovel), as well as the library's catalog of more than 60,000 print volumes at the same time.

OneSearch has been around a few years, during which time we've added more and more "connectors" to our growing list of subscription databases, so today we're up to a total of 25.  We just completed a redesign of the site and it's never worked better, so why not give it a shot?

If you need transportation information and don't know where to start, and especially if you don't have a lot of time or the patience to repeat searches over and over in separate databases (but feel like you should to be thorough), why not search with the tool that will save your time and focus your energy?

Here's how it works: 1. Select your search terms; 2. Select a subject category or pick and chose from the 25 databases it can search, and; 3. Click "Search" and watch the results roll in. 

Relevant results from multiple resources are assembled and presented in a "unified" results screen in just seconds, so you don't have deal with a dozen or more interfaces. Plus, OneSearch has some amazing features, like the nifty "Visual Search" tab that helps you pinpoint to most relevant documents for your needs. 

To help you get going we've created this Quick-Start Guide to OneSearch and this video demonstration that shows you the basics of how it works.  Got questions?  Let us know. We're here to help!

Ken Winter, VDOT Research Library