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In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to search for articles in an article database.
I’m going to be using a multi-disciplinary database called Academic Search Premier
but many of the features I’ll be demonstrating are found in all article databases.
When you’re searching in an article database, you’ll get the best results by combining concepts with AND.
So here I am going to put each concept I am looking for in its own search box.
And then I’ll click on search.
I’ve got 205 results here. But before we look at those,
I want to draw your attention to the limits on the left side of the screen.
Most article databases have advanced search features like these
that can help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
I’ll select a few
and that’ll bring me down to 73 results.
Now looking at my results, if I click on the title of an article,
I’ll find more information about it,
including subject terms which are super useful for finding articles on similar topics
and also an abstract for the article.
Another useful feature you’ll find in many databases
are tools like these that make researching easier.
For example, you can use the cite tool to get a formatted citation
that you can then copy and paste into your bibliography,
or you can can use the export tool to send that information to a citation manager.
Now if I decide that I want to read this article,
I need to look for something that says full-text.
In this database it’s on the left
but in other databases it might be in a different location.
This link will bring me directly to the article.
If there is not a link to the full text
you’ll want to look for this FindIt button.
FindIt searches all of the UW Libraries databases to see if the article is available elsewhere.
If the full text is available, you’ll see the option to Get Full Text online.
If it is not available online, you can see if we have a print copy of the journal in one of our libraries
or you can request a copy of the article through interlibrary loan.
When searching for an article in an article database,
remember to combine your concepts with AND,
look for advanced search features and tools to make researching easier,
and use the FindIt button to locate the full text of an article.