The name vascoda is often associated with the medieval explorer Vasco da Gama, as this implies the connotation of navigating the sea of information.
The vascoda web portal offers access to information and full texts on various subjects through an integrative user interface.
The aim of vascoda is to merge academic resources into a single well-structured integrative information service.
The portal is technically run by the NRW Online Utility and Library Service Centre (hbz).
Parts of their data are integrated into the vascoda search (as of June 2009): A number of projects and working groups focussing on certain aspects relevant to vascoda were financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) or the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).