Select the first one in the database list
Choose "Databases & Resources by Subject" and select an academic area that covers your topic
Use the library catalog
Search Google

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3.) Common Features of all Databases:

Take a moment to get familiar with the screen.

Though databases may differ in appearance, they all have some common features. Look for:
• Search box for inputting keyword terms (see features of "Basic Searching," below)
• Limiters - options for limiting your search. Some common options include:

-Limiting to full-text articles
-Limiting publication years
-Limiting to peer-reviewed material

• Advanced or Guided Searching - gives further options for limiting or expanding your search.
• Subject or Index Searching - "Subject Search” lists the information contained in a database according to topic. "Index Search" is an alphabetical listing of all the searchable words in the database. You may also see the term thesaurus. Some databases use a standardized vocabulary to ensure that all material on a given topic is located in the same place. Sometimes you may have to use a thesaurus or a subject/index search to locate the appropriate term if a query does not locate any relevant material.
• Option to Print/Email/Save results (this is only displayed after a search has been completed).

[Return to Table of Contents]

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4.) Basic Searching:

Keyword searching allows you to combine words and/or phrases in order to find citations that match your terms. The database is not searching for a concept – it is only looking for the exact words or phrases that you have entered. As a result, there may be some citations in the list of search results that are not relevant to what you are looking for. To ensure that you are getting a more complete list of relevant citations, you may want to try a combination of synonyms in your search or use the thesaurus or subject index (if available) to find a more precise term for your search. Each combination will return different results. (Example: teenagers and abortion may give you different results than adolescents and abortion though both represent the same concept).

A. Boolean operators: You can combine two or more keywords into a search by using the boolean operators AND, OR, NOT. AND finds records that contain both of your keywords, example - teenagers and abortion. OR finds records that have either one or both of your keywords. You would typically use it to find one or the another of two synonyms - exampleteenagers or adolescents.

NOT eliminates records that have a certain keyword. Example - abortion not late term. You may use as many booleans and boolean combinations as you need, but be sure to use parentheses, when appropriate, around combinations:
(adolescents or teenagers) and abortion

B. Truncation and Wildcard: You can use a truncation device (*) or a wildcard (?) to find plurals, various spellings, and different endings for a keyword. This will improve your search results by including all the possible spellings of your keyword. (Example: teen* will find teen, teens, teenager, teenagers, or teenaged and wom?n will find woman or women).

Practice Session
For this practice session, let's continue our search for articles on abortion. If we keyword search for the word “abortion,” we will get thousands of citations. If we want articles more relevant to our topic, it is important to add several keywords to limit our search results. In this case, instead of looking for articles in general on abortion, let's look for information about laws related to teenage abortion.

1.) In the search box to the right, type the keywords for our search about laws relating to teenage abortion:

abortion and laws and teenage

Be sure to join each word or phrase with and. Click Search.

2.) Look at the number of results. Though this is a good number, it's not all of the records that we COULD retrieve, since the computer is looking only for the words we gave it - teenage (but not teens , teenager or teenagers) and law (but not legal or laws). Go back up to the main search box to revise the search.

3.) Type

abortion and teen* and (law* or legal*)

Click Search. This has now expanded the search tremendously. The result screen you see shows the first 10 records. There should be a link at the top or bottom of the page to move to the next list of records.

4.) The result screen gives a brief citation for each article. View an abstract or summary of the article by clicking on the highlighted article title. (In some databases, the link to the abstract may be located under "View Complete Record.")

Quiz Question #2
Truncating the word legal* will search for all the following words except:

legal
legally
legality
legacy

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5.) Getting the Article

A. Checking for Full-Text Availability: If the full text of the article is available, there will be a link under the citation that says "PDF Full-Text" or "HTML Full-Text" or sometimes both.

B. If it's Not Full-Text in the Database: If the article is not available full-text, you can use the "Find It!" tool to determine whether the article is available full-text in another database or if the library owns a printed copy. Clicking on the "Find It!” button pulls up a list of options.

“Find It!” first scans all of the library’s other databases to determine whether the article is available to you in full-text elsewhere. If so, you may be provided with a convenient link to the article or the database where that journal is available.

In other cases, USM Libraries may not have full-text access to the article in any database. You may see an option on the “Find It!” menu labeled “Check the library catalog for holdings.” Clicking on this link opens a pop-up window and performs an automatic the library catalog search to see whether the journal is available in USM Libraries in some format (print, microfilm, etc.). If the journal is available at USM, you will have to determine whether we own the volume/issue/year you need.

If the search reveals that USM Libraries does not own the journal in print or any other format, other links are provided. You can click on the link labeled “Search Google” to perform an automatic web search for the article. If the article does not appear anywhere on the Web, you can request that it be sent to you through the library’s Document Delivery services. More information about Document Delivery is available in the next tutorial.

Practice Session
1.) In our search above, look through the list of citations. Find one that is full-text and click on the "Full Text" link to view a complete article. If this was an article that you wanted, you could "Print/Email/Save" it from this screen.

2.) Let's return to the list of citations by scrolling to the top or bottom of the record and clicking on "Result List."

3.) Look through the citation list again and find a citation that is not full-text, one that has only a link to "Find It!". Click on FindIt. FindIt automatically searches through the other article databases to find the article. If it is available in another database, you should see a link to it. If a link has been provided for the full-text, close the FindIt box. Click on several more FindIt buttons until you find one that is not full-text in another database.

4.) When the full-text is not available for a citation, it is necessary to check USM Libraries' holdings to see if the journal is physically available at the library so that copies can be made. First, write down the name of the journal and the volume, issue and date from the citation at the top of the FindIt screen. Then look on the FindIt list and click on the link to the library's holdings.

5.) A new window will open and a search is automatically made in the library catalog for the journal title. If a message appears that states "Item not Found," USM Libraries does not own the journal. If a record appears with the journal title, USM Libraries does own the journal. Though we may own the journal, we may not own the volume and issue you need. So let's check.

6.) To check the record in the library catalog to be sure that we own the volume and issue you need, view the holdings within the record. If only one record appears, scroll down to the bottom for the holdings. If more than one record appears (we often have the periodicals in different formats - paper, microfiche, microfilm or online), click the title for the full record and scroll down the page to the library's holdings to view what volume and issues we own in that format and its location.

7.) If a record for your journal appears, scroll down to the holdings and determine if we own the volume, issue, date that you need. If we have the volume you need, write down the call number and/or the location where it can be found.

8.) Close out the the library catalog window by clicking on the "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the the library catalog window.

Quiz Question #3
If the article is not available full-text in any database, you will need to:

Check the library catalog to see if USM Libraries has the journal
Check the public library
Order the article through Document Delivery Services
Give up your search

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6.) Printing, Emailing, and Saving Records: You can print, email or save a number of selected records by marking the records that you would like to keep. Look for a box for checkmarking or "Adding" the item. It is important to remember that an article must be available in the database in order for it to be emailed to you. If the full-text is not available for your viewing, it will not be emailed.

Practice Session
Let's email a citation.

1.) Using the result list for the search above, "Add" the 2nd item to your folder list.
2.) Look at the top of the screen for the folder with items and click the folder to view your saved citation. Click the link to "Select all" and then click on the E-Mail icon.
3.) Type your email address in the "Mail records to:" box. Make sure it is typed correctly. Type practice in the "Mail Subject:" box. Look to the lower right and you will see a check box for selecting a Style format. Select MLA.
4.) Now click on the button to send email. You should get a message that confirms that the record has been sent. Next time you check your email, you should see this record.

Quiz Question #4
True or False - Emailing a record always guarantees that an article will be delivered to you:

True
False

Your Email Address:

Your Instructor's Email Address: