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Finding Articles in Two

some times three, OK maybe four Easy Steps

Articles are contained in journals, magazines and newspapers (collectively known as periodicals).  You could look through the table of contents of each issue of each periodical in the hopes of hitting on an article that fits your research need.  Occasionally this works really well, but more often than not this is the hard way to go about it.  The title of this research guide promises to show you the easy way.   So here goes…

Just as an index in a book will direct you quickly and easily to the location of a topic within the book so too, a periodical index will direct you qickly and easily to the location of articles on a topic within magazines, journals and newspapers.

There are a multitude of indexes covering a multitude of periodicals.  No two indexes are exactly alike.  You will need to use several for most research projects.

Step 1.  Find an Index.  With topic in hand, go to the library Web page http://www.masters.edu/library.  From the menu on the left select Find Articles.  From here you will find options for identifying all of the article indexes that the TMC library provides.  If you don't know which index(es) to use try the Search by: Main Topics and Types marix.  Select an appropriate topic in combination with the “Articles” type and you will receive a list of indexes related to the field selected.  Each index on the list has a brief description to help you decide which ones will be most likely to provide the needed information.  The hyperlinked elipses following the description provides a little more description.  The electronic indexes are hyperlinked to take you directly to the database for searching.  The physical indexes are located on shelves in the library.  If you need a little more help getting started, use the research guide General Guide to Library Resources.  It provides a short list of suggested indexes by major.

Step 2.  Search Indexes and select articles.  After you have identified an appropriate periodical index or two or three (you will need more than one to get the best results) you need to look up your topic.  Using the “Advanced Search“ mode instead of the “Basic Search“ when searching each index will help in formulating a search query that will retrieve more relevant resources and less irrelevant ones.  Please note that each index has it's own set of search features and limiting options.  It will prove very useful to you in the long run to take some time to examine these features and options.  It is also strongly recommended that you read the Help menus and Search Tips offered by the indexes.  Doing wo will improve your results significantly as well as save you much "pulling of the hair and gnashing of the teeth".

Once you have a hit list, select citations that appear to fit your research need.  An electronic index will often provide the full-text of the article itself – this is very handy and saves time in the whole research process.  Physical indexes and some electronic indexes only provide citations or at best citations with abstracts (summary of the article).  If this is the case, let’s be realistic when this happens you will need to take the next step.

Step 3.  Locate the periodical containing the article using CHECK FOR FULL TEXT or Find Journals.  With citation in hand, your next task is to determine whether or not the library subscribes to the magazine, journal or newspaper containing your needed article.

CHECK FOR FULL TEXT, available with each online index, is especially useful when attempting to determine whether or not the library has a particular journal either hard or softcopy formats.  Check for Full Text will link directly to the article, if it is available full-text in another index.  If the article is not avialbe full-text online, CHECK FOR FULL TEXT will provide a link to the library catalog where you can find what hardcopy holdings are available.  In the event the TMC library does not have the journal in question, either hardcopy or full-text online, CHECK FOR FULL TEXT also provides a link to our interlibrary loan service (see Step 4 below).

Find Journals indicates which periodical titles are held by the library both hard and softcopies as well as inclusive dates of coverage.[1]  Find Journals is particularly useful when all you have is a ciation and you want to find the article.  Look for the journal indicated in the citation.  From the library Web site select Find Journals.  Search for the journal title in question (not the article title).  If the periodical title is softcopy, the holdings statement will contain a link to the appropriate index(es) providing access to it.  If the periodical title is available in harcdopy, there will be a link to The Master's College Holdings indicating which volumes are on the shelves or in remote storage.[2]  Compare the date of the article from the citation to the dates of coverage held by the library to ascertain if the needed article is available.  If the issue you need is in remote storage, tell the circulation desk clerk who will retrieve it for you.

 

But what if TMC does not have the article you need?  All is not lost…

Step 4.  Use Interlibrary Loan.  ILL forms are available on the library Web site under Library Services.  Fill out the Periodicals form as completely as possible, read the copyright statement and submit the request.  When the article arrives, you will be notified (usually within 3-5 business days, but may take longer).  An ILL icon is also available with all FirstSearch databases.  Before submitting any ILL request be absolutely certain TMC does not have the item either physically or in a full-text database.  See Miss T. for assistance.

Additional Research Guides: (also available on the Reference Desk)

·       Basic Steps in Library Research – six simple steps explaining the research process

·       From Cite to Hand - Books – how to actually obtain books and other materials whether or not the library owns them

·       From Cite to Hand - Articles – how to actually obtain magazine and journal articles whether or not the library owns them

·       Identifying Scholarly Books – clues for distinguishing scholarly books and journals

·       Identifying Scholarly Periodicals- clues for distinguishing between magazines, journals and peer reviewed journals

·       Evaluating Resources – easy way to help evaluate the usefulness of research resource both paper and electronic

·       Research Worksheet – designed to make research simpler by working step by step through the research process

·       Copyright for Higher Education– help in understanding the copyright law as it pertains to faculty and students

© Janet Tillman/The Master’s College, 2004 2008, permission is granted for non-profit educational use; any reproduction or modification should include this statement.

Last updated July, 2010.