This page is designed to help you get started with your article search. Most students are performing one of the two general types of article searches: searching for a specific article (i.e. an article or journal you already have information about) or searching for any article on a specific topic.

Searching for a specific article or journal

Searching for any article on a specific topic

Searching for a specific article or journal

To perform a specific article or journal search, you must already know some information about the article / journal for which you are looking. At a minimum you should know the journal name -- this is enough information to perform your specific journal search. To perform a specific article search, you should have the title of the article and the name of the journal in which it was published. Date published will also be extremely helpful in this type of search.

To begin your search, you should visit the Norma Wood Library Homepage. Locate the section titled Find Articles. In the Find Articles section, click on the second link: Search for a Specific Magazine or Journal. This will take you to the library's E-Journal Portal. The E-Journal Portal is a handy tool to look up any journal, magazine or newspaper that the library subscribes to -- whether that publication is available in print or online.

On the E-Journal page, type in the name of the journal for which you are searching and click the Search button-- use this search method whether you are looking for a journal or for an article within that journal. If the library subscribes to the journal, you should see it in the results list. See example below.

In the example, we searched for the journal Teaching Children Mathematics. As you can see from the results list displayed above, the library does subscribe to this journal. From the results list we are offered two important pieces of information: the location of the subscription and the date range available in full-text.

Again using the example, we can see that this journal is available in two different locations. The first location is ProQuest Research Library (an online database) and the second location is the ASUMH Print Holdings (on the periodical shelves in the library). Location is very important if you are searching from home; if you need to be able to access the journal online immediately you should be looking for availability in one of the library databases. To see a list - along with descriptions - of the library databases, please visit the library's Virtual Reference Room.

Date range is another extremely important piece for information. It tells you what dates of a particular journal that the library has available. Let's say that you need an article that was published in 2006 in the journal Teaching Children Mathematics. From looking at the results list above, we can see that jounal is available online (in ProQuest) from 5/1/1997 to 10/1/2003. We can also see that it is available from 1/1/2003 to the present in the library's print holdings. This means you will need to visit the library in person to access an article that was published in this journal in 2006 -- a piece of information that is very important to know if you are doing your research from home.

If your journal is available online, you can simply click on the link to access it. Using the example above, you would click on the link that says ProQuest Research Library to access an index of the journal Teaching Children Mathematics in ProQuest . You will be redirected to ProQuest's site when you click on the link.

As you can see in the image above, ProQuest first lists the publication name and full-text coverage then allows you to search within the publication (for your specific article title or for a general topic) or to browse all available issues by date. You may notice in the example above that the Browse specific issues dates begin with the most current issue (in this case, February 2008) but remember that you will be able to access full text only for the dates indicated at the top of the page (in this case, May 1997 thru October 2003).

PLEASE NOTE: If the journal you are looking for is in a database other than ProQuest, your journal index page will look different than the picture above. All of the database's journal index pages work basically the same way but if you ever need help please don't hestiate to ask either in person, on the phone (870.508.6112) or via email (cybrarian@asumh.edu).

Searching for any article on a specific topic

When you are searching for articles by topic, the best way to begin your search is using one of the library databases. For example, let's say your instructor has assigned you a 5 page paper on illegal immigration and has required everyone to have 5 sources. Where to begin?

The best place to start is using the library databases. To see a list - along with descriptions - of the library databases, please visit the library's Virtual Reference Room. If you have never used the library databases before and are unsure of their contents or purpose, we have prepared a free database tutorial available to all current ASUMH students via Blackboard. It is highly recommended that you take the time to explore this tutorial since the information offered can save you hours of frustrated searching for the information you need.

For a general search, we usually suggest that you begin your search with the EBSCOhost database. This is the library's largest database and it offers the broadest subject coverage. To access EBSCO, you should visit the Norma Wood Library Homepage. Locate the section titled Quick List of Library Databases . In this section, click on the EBSCOhost link. This will take you to the EBSCO database entry page. Click on the link for EBSCOhost Web.

EBSCO now asks you to choose databases. EBSCO is so large that they break their hundreds of thousands of articles up into smaller databases based on subject. However, since many articles can be classified under multiple subjects at once, EBSCO also allows you to search all databases at the same time by default. If you would like to take advantage of this option, simply click on the Continue button at the top of the page.

Finally you have arrived at the basic search screen. From here you simply type your topic into the Find box and click on the Search button. If your search terms are broad, you will have thousands of results to look through. If your search terms are too specific, you may need to reword your search.

If you are having trouble finding information on your topic, you may want to read the library's guide to Getting Started with your Research. If you still cannot find the type of information you need please make an appointment to meet with the Reference Librarian, who can help you target your information sources. Call the library at 870.508.6112 or email cybrarian@asumh.edu to schedule a meeting time.