The Primo system serves as the library catalog -- that is, it searches for books, videos, and periodicals (magazines, newspapers, & journals) in the library collection. It also finds e-books and streaming videos, and periodical articles from many of the library's research databases, like the EBSCOhost and ProQuest databases and Science Direct. It also finds reports, reference book entries, and other documents.
By default, Primo finds articles and e-books that are accessible online. You can expand the search to include items that are not online if you need to.
Tips
A new tool within Primo, Research Assistant uses artificial Intelligence to take a question and turn it into a search that tries to address various aspects of that topic. It is a good option for topics for which there are several words with similar meanings that are commonly used to describe a concept. It also generates an overview of the topic, and suggests related topics to consider.
Research Assistant is available as a link at the top of the Primo search screen.
More information about what Research Assistant does is available on our AI Tools page.
Because of difference in the data available to Primo to search and the data the research databases can work with, as well as differences in search algorithms and available search options, you may find differences in the items found by searching in Primo and by searching the databases directly. If you don't find enough information searching in Primo, you should consider searching the individual databases.
When searching for information about a particular plant species in academic and scientific literature, you should search the scientific name (genus and species). If you don't know the scientific name, you can try searching with a common name to find an article that also mention the scientific name. Be aware though, that a common name may be associated with multiple species
When searching for Hawaiian plant names, be aware that some databases don't handle searching with diacritical marks well. It's a good idea to try searching without them.
Please note that the links to paid databases in these guides will only work if you are on the UH-Mānoa campus. Please use the links in the boxes to the right to access Leeward CC databases.
Call number ranges:
Books on these topics will be in the General Collection, Reference Collection, and the Hawaii Pacific Collection..
Services and collections of the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System.
Leeward CC students can use these links to access the research databases subscribed to by LCC Library. Use these databases to search for articles from research journals and other publications.
Full-text articles from 270 news sources from AK, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT, and WA. Includes the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Jun 2010-June 23, 2025), Honolulu Advertiser (Jan 1999-Jun 2010), Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Mar 1996-Jun 2010), and Hawaii Business (Jan 2016-present).
Note: This database replaces ProQuest News & Newspapers.
Free research tools and information sources. No login necessary.
An index to newspapers, magazines, and journals published in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region.
You can find articles from Hawaii’s diverse newspapers going back as far as 1929. Provided through the Hawaii State Public Library
In case the regular LCC Library website is unavailable, a web page has been placed on an off-campus server with links to our research databases, so that you can still access these resources from home.
The web page is at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~lccref
