Finding an article using the library can sometimes be challenging, but following the steps below can help. If you're still stuck even after using these suggestions, view the search tutorials by clicking the tab on the left, or contact a librarian for more help.
Finding Books
1. Go to the Library Website. Once there you should see:
2. You have a couple choices. You can search directly from the "Books, Articles & More" tab, the "Scholarly Articles" tab or select the "Databases" tab to browse individual databases.
- "Books, Articles & More" will search most of the library's holdings. Once you perform the search you can use limiters on the left side of the screen to narrow your results to articles. You can also limit to scholarly articles, newspaper articles, and magazine articles. If you want to see what is out there on a topic this is a good place to start.
- "Scholarly Articles" will search for peer-reviewed, academic journal articles. If you know you need scholarly articles, this is a good place to start. Be aware that searching from here doesn't find every scholarly article the library has access to. You will still want to search in other databases.
- "Databases" will take you to a full list of databases accessible through the library. These databases have different types of material covering a variety of subject areas. Some databases will only have primary sources, some will only have secondary sources, some will have newspaper articles, some videos, and some will have a mixture. If you know you want a type of source, or a source in a specific subject area (Biology for example), individual databases are good places to start. They are also worth checking out after you've searched the other tabs.
3. Use keywords when you search. Connect keywords using the words AND, OR, NOT.
- Typing out your full research question is ineffective. Distill it down to the most essential keywords.
- Sometimes a keyword can contain more than one word. When this happens use quotation marks: "global warming" instead of global warming.
- Connecting two search terms with AND assures that every source in your search results contains both keywords. Example: Ocean AND Plastic
- Connecting two search terms with OR assures at least one word will be in every source in your search results. Its a way to search for synonyms. Example: "Global Warming" OR "Climate Change"
- Connecting two search terms with NOT will exclude the second search term from your results. Olympics NOT Gymnastics would bring up resources about the Olympics, but none of the sources would mention gymnastics.
4. On the results page use the filters on the left hand side of the screen to narrow your results (peer reviewed, magazine, newspaper, publication year, author/creator, subject, language, etc.). Below is an image of where you can find the filters.
- Sometimes the library doesn't have access to an article but you can request it through Interlibrary Loan. It usually takes about a day for an article to arrive. You'll receive an email with the article
At any point in this process if you have a question or need help, please reach out to a librarian or ask for help at the Information Desk!
