Q&A - Primo Quick Start Guide - Nazarbayev University LibGuides at Nazarbayev University

Questions & Answers

Can't find an article or a book?

Primo is a sophisticated search engine, but you may occasionally run into some issues because some databases are not fully indexed or searchable in Primo. We recommend that you access these resources directly; see the list below:

Access Medicine This link opens in a new window
AccessMedicine is a comprehensive online medical resource that provides a complete spectrum of knowledge from the best minds in medicine, with essential information accessible anywhere. Authoritative, trusted, and continuously updated with optimized content for any mobile device, AccessMedicine is guided by a preeminent Advisory Board that includes three of the medical field’s top academic experts.
American Institute of Physics journals (AIP) This link opens in a new window
19 of the most cited, peer reviewed journal publications in physics. AIP is made up of several member societies: American Physical Society, American Astronomical Society, Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physics Teachers and others. We have subscription to current and archive issues of AIP journals.
Access covers:
Applied Physics Letters - online with backfiles
Chaos - online with backfiles
Journal of Applied Physics - online with backfiles
Journal of Chemical Physics - online with backfiles
Journal of Mathematical Physics - online with backfiles
Physics of Fluids - online with backfiles
Physics of Plasmas - online with backfiles
Physics of Today - online with backfiles
Review of Scientific Instruments - online with backfiles
American Physical Society (APS) This link opens in a new window
Keep up with the highlights of physics research with journal articles with viewpoints, focus points, and synopsis that don't rely on jargon and technical detail. Search for articles and sign up for weekly alerts.
Access covers:
Physical Review Letters
Physical Review X - open access
Reviews of Modern Physics
Physical Review A
Physical Review B
Physical Review C
Physical Review D
Physical Review E
Physical Review Applied
Physical Review Fluids
Physical Review Accekeratirs and Beams - open access
Physical Review Physics Education Research - open access
Physical Review Online Archive (PROLA)
Physics - Open Access
Bates' Visual Guide to Physical Examination This link opens in a new window
Bates’ Visual Guide delivers head-to-toe and systems-based physical examination techniques for the (Advanced) Assessment or Introduction to Clinical Medicine course. The site features more than 8 hours of video content. Students and faculty in medical, nursing, and related programs will appreciate the careful attention to clinical accuracy, as well as the range of patient types profiled in the series.
BioDigital This link opens in a new window
Human Visualization Platform. This interactive, medically accurate virtual body enables users to learn about anatomy, health conditions, and treatments in visual format that resembles life itself.
Please, create a free account to access.
Bloomberg This link opens in a new window
Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people, and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news, and insight around the world.
Remote access is not provided.
Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC)/Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) This link opens in a new window
Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), from the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC), is the world's repository of experimentally determined organic and metal-organic crystal structures, and related applications software including GOLD and Relibase+. CSD also comprises software for database access, structure visualization and data analysis, and structural knowledge bases derived from the CSD.
Choice Reviews Online This link opens in a new window
Current Reviews for Academic Libraries is the premier source for reviews of academic books, electronic media, and Internet resources of interest to those in higher education. More than 35,000 librarians, faculty, and key decision makers rely on Choice magazine and ChoiceReviews.online for collection development and scholarly research.
Clinical Key This link opens in a new window
ClinicalKey is a clinical search engine that supports clinical decisions by making it easier to find and apply relevant knowledge. Clinical Key team drives better care by delivering fast, concise answers when every second counts, and deep access to evidence whenever, wherever you need it.
You can find training materials and user guides here Clinical Key User-Kit.
Compustat through WRDS This link opens in a new window
Compustat through WRDS provides preliminary and final data for annual, quarterly, and year-to-date periods for 100 of the largest global companies. The database also contains point-in-time information, using data values available at that time in history. To use Compustat please got to WRDS portal, select the Register tab or link “Register for a WRDS Account".
CRSP through WRDS This link opens in a new window
The Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) maintains the most comprehensive collection of security price, return, and volume data for the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ stock markets. Additional CRSP files provide stock indices, beta-based and cap-based portfolios, treasury bond and risk-free rates, mutual funds, and real estate data.
Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition This link opens in a new window
The Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second Edition) Online sets out the present state of our knowledge of the Islamic World. It is a unique and invaluable reference tool, an essential key to understanding the world of Islam, and the authoritative source not only for the religion, but also for the believers and the countries in which they live.
(Works if opened through incognito page)
Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures This link opens in a new window
The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Online is an interdisciplinary, trans-historical, and global project embracing women and Islamic cultures in every region where there have been significant Muslim populations. It aims to cover every topic for which there is significant research, examining these regions from the period just before the rise of Islam to the present. The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Online crosses history, geographic borders and disciplines to create a groundbreaking reference work reflecting the very latest research on gender studies and the Islamic world.
Financial Times This link opens in a new window
If this is your first time reading FT, you must first activate your account by registering for the website with NU domain (@nu.edu.kz).
To access full text of articles you have to log in on the FT site. Also available in mobile app.
More than just a newspaper, the Financial Times delivers unbiased expert industry analysis and data-driven market intelligence that organizations trust to help them make more informed business and policy decisions, strengthen client relations, avoid risk and identify new opportunities. Financial Times supports a wide range of disciplines from economics and management to accounting and international relations. FT.com is an essential source of breaking news, comment, data, analysis, and research tools. Complete the registration form with your NU email address for unlimited access to Financial Times articles and tools.
GALE ebooks This link opens in a new window
Access to the largest package of primary and secondary sources available to libraries today, covering nearly every research area and discipline.
ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) This link opens in a new window
An international consortium of more than 700 academic institutions and research organizations, ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community.
ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social sciences. It hosts 16 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.
You have to register an account with NU domain (@nu.edu.kz) for downloading data.
IOPscience & IOPebooks This link opens in a new window
IOPscience is a platform for IOP-hosted journal content. It incorporates some of the most innovative technologies to enhance your user experience. Whereas IOP ebooks™ is a brand new book programme that brings together innovative digital publishing with leading voices from across physics to create the essential collection of physics books for a digital world. Created through collaboration with leading researchers in their field, IOP ebooks™ feature must-read content for the physics community.
JoVE This link opens in a new window
JoVE Video Journal is the leading peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed video methods journal. It publishes experimental techniques in a visual format with detailed text protocols to increase scientific reproducibility and productivity.
Domain access is possible for off-campus use, please register account with @nu.edu.kz.
For faculty and students, JoVE Science Education Library is an essential resource that makes teaching and learning scientific fundamentals more engaging, efficient, and effective, through easy-to-follow video demonstrations created by experts at top institutions. The Science Education Library contains 8 series, each with multiple collections of videos.
MathSciNet This link opens in a new window
Citation and reference list of mathematical articles. Some articles contain synopses not full text.
New York Times digital, The This link opens in a new window
An unlimited New York Times digital subscription provides ongoing access to NYTimes.com from any computer or device, as well as access to the NYTimes app on portable devices. When you subscribe, you'll get access to articles and blog posts, as well as video, slide shows and other multimedia features
OnePetro This link opens in a new window
OnePetro is an online library of technical literature for the oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) industry. With contributions from 20 publishing partners and providing access to over 180,000 items, OnePetro is the definitive resource on upstream oil and gas.
Orbis This link opens in a new window
Orbis is the resource for entity data.
It has information on close to 450 million companies and entities across the globe – 45 million of these have detailed financial information.
It’s the most powerful comparable data resource on private companies – and it covers listed companies too. It’s strengths include: comparable information; extensive corporate ownership structures; a holistic view of companies
Use Orbis to find, analyze and compare companies for better decision making and increased efficiency.
OverDrive This link opens in a new window
OverDrive provides eBooks to read online or download.
Please use your NU credentials to sign in.
Oxford Dictionaries Online This link opens in a new window
Great set of dictionaries to help you find word meanings, pronunciation, origins, synonyms and antonyms, and examples of sentence use. Develop your writing skills, get advice on grammar and style. Subscribe for the Word-Of-The-Day service.
Passport Euromonitor This link opens in a new window
Euromonitor International’s Passport is an integrated online database, providing business intelligence on industries, economies and consumers. Its simple-to-use interface makes it easy to find relevant research.
Privco This link opens in a new window
PrivCo's focus is on companies that are earning at least $1 million in annual revenue or have at least $1 million in venture capital backing. PrivCo users will find family-owned or owner-operated firms that have no financial data available elsewhere, as well as fast-growing venture capital and private equity-backed startups. There are currently 800,000 US-based private companies covered on PrivCo's platform, with hundreds of new profiles, funding rounds and deals being added weekly.

Search individual companies or build company lists and download/export data by industry, size, location, and much more.
While 90% of major American business is made up of private companies, financial information on them is often not disclosed and incredibly difficult to find. With over a decade of experience, PrivCo aims to provide the most accurate US-based private company data available in the marketplace. Using a proprietary industry and keyword taxonomy, human-powered sourcing and insights, and AI-assisted algorithms, PrivCo provides unique financial data and insights that are unavailable elsewhere.
Pure This link opens in a new window
PURE is the University's web-based Research Information System, bringing together key information on research at Nazarbayev University.
Reaxys This link opens in a new window
Reaxys – is a structural-chemical factual database that includes a various chemical substances, their experimental properties, an abstract database of journal and patent publications, a database of chemical reactions with the function of building a synthesis plan.
Reaxys has been designed for chemical researchers to solve practical problems related to the development of new materials, new technologies. The extracted experimental properties of chemical compounds in Reaxys cover more than 130 subject areas, including chromatographic, spectral, electrochemical, magnetic, physical, optical, thermodynamic and crystalline properties, information about natural objects and the use of compounds.
You have to register account with @nu.edu.kz to have access to materials.
Literature or compound property searches in Reaxys can be done using natural language keywords, as well as structural or reaction schemes.
Science & AAAS This link opens in a new window
Science continues to publish the very best in research across the sciences, with articles that consistently rank among the most cited in the world. NU Library provides access to:
Science: 1997-current issue
SciFinder Discovery Platform, CAS This link opens in a new window
If this is your first time using SciFinder-n, you must first activate your account by registering account here: https://scifinder.cas.org/registration/index.html?corpKey=BE11717BX86F35040X31DF0F8638E70F5DF6 with NU domain (@nu.edu.kz)..
The CAS SciFinder Discovery Platform (from CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society) is designed to support multiple stages and types of scientific research. It combines: CAS SciFinderⁿ, CAS Analytical Methods®, CAS Formulus®.
CAS SciFinderⁿ is a true source for authoritatively identifying a chemical substance and its related chemical structures, chemical names, reactions etc. and for chemistry literature such as articles, chapters, patents, conference proceedings, technical reports.
CAS Analytical Methods® will help you discover the best scientific methods and process to follow.
With CAS Formulus® you have access to the world’s leading collection of formulations, leading you to insights that go beyond literature. Understand a formulation’s origin and effectiveness with access to the best information for active ingredients and excipients. Evaluate ingredients and manufacturing processes; and explore regulatory requirements in one, easy interface.

- CAS SciFinder-n
- CAS Analytical Methods
- CAS Formulus
- CAS past events and webinars
- Article reviews from CAS experts
SciVal This link opens in a new window
Elsevier’s SciVal offers quick, easy access to the research performance of 4,600 research institutions and 220 countries worldwide. A ready-to-use solution with unparalleled power and flexibility, SciVal enables you to navigate the world of research and devise an optimal plan to drive and analyze your performance. SciVal allows you to view and compare any desired research entities such as institutions, countries, self-defined research topics and researcher groups.
SPIE Digital Library This link opens in a new window
SPIE is an international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista is one of the world’s largest statistics portals. Providing you with access to relevant data from over 18,000 sources, our focus is firmly based on professional, clear, quick and consistent results. The customized search query form provides you with a list of statistics, studies and reports relating to your search request within a matter of seconds – kick-starting your research.
Times Higher Education This link opens in a new window
News – stay up to date on all the latest news in higher education
Research - bespoke commentary and analysis from leading global academics
World University Rankings – our trusted performance data on universities for students, university academics and leaders, governments and industry
Features - varied perspectives on the topics that matter

Please register using your Nazarbayev University domain @nu.edu.kz email address and enjoy immediate access.
USMLE Easy This link opens in a new window
USMLE Easy makes the questions hard, so passing is easy! With powerful customization tools and more than 11,000 questions covering all the disciplines and organ systems included on the USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3, USMLE Easy allows you to easily master concepts based on your individual strengths and weaknesses. Critical concepts are reinforced through interactive lectures, as well anatomy flash cards offering 150 full-color anatomy images. You will need to create a personal log in to use this resource.
Wall Street Journal Online, The This link opens in a new window
The Wall Street Journal Digital Network is the largest online publisher of original business news and financial information. Edited locally in nine languages and available across mobile and tablet devices, WSJ.com delivers breaking news streams, interactive features, videos, and blogs (Asia, US and Europe editions included).
If this is your first time reading WSJ you need to create and activate your account using the NU email through the following link and go through the onboarding process.
Also available in mobile app.
WRDS This link opens in a new window
WHARTON RESEARCH DATA SERVICES is a comprehensive Internet-based data management system that allows researchers to easily retrieve information from a wide variety of financial, economic, and marketing data sources. This hosted data service has become the focus for quantitative data research and is recognized by the academic and financial research community around the world as the leading business intelligence tool.
Select the Register tab or link “Register for a WRDS Account.”

Why wasn't my article accessible via the full-text link?

There are various reasons an article could not be accessible, including the following:

Sometimes the citation is available before the full text of the article is published.
The article may be withheld or placed under 'embargo' by the publisher or author.
If there is an error in the citation, Primo will not be able to locate and link to the article directly.

Strategies to try:

Try navigating to the article using the database interface that Primo has directed you to, using a keyword or title search within that database.
Check if the article can be accessed via a different database name in the section “Access Full-text” in your results.
Typically, you also may be able to find similar, related articles you could use, in your Primo search results.

If you discover that the NU Library does not hold the article in full text and you need it for your study, you can use our ILL service to make a request.

Why do certain full-text links point to journal homepages, abstracts or Tables of Contents instead of the complete text of the specific article?

Primo is a tool that enables users to access the complete text of an article, depending on the structure of the publisher's website and their "link-to" syntax. Publishers have different policies about this; some only permit linking to the journal level, others to the Table of Contents, while others allow linking to the full-text article. Occasionally, users may need to navigate through a database or the publisher's website to find the article they're looking for.

Why does the publisher's website occasionally open with an error message after clicking on the link to the full text?

These error messages may indicate that the publisher's website contains the whole content, but the Primo-generated URL was rejected. In this scenario, you might be able to access your article by using the publisher's website.

In some cases, you may not be able to obtain the entire content because the complete text you require is no longer available at the site, but the server does not have this information.

Need Help?

For more guides on Primo, check End User Help by Ex Libris
Check Library FAQ
Email the Library, Ask NURIA or contact your Subject Librarian if you have any questions.
Call us: +7 (7172) 70 62 55 (Main Library) / +7 (7172) 70 46 40 (Medical Library)