| TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES | LIBRARY HELP PAGES |
| Locate Articles & Citations | |
| TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES | LIBRARY HELP PAGES |
| Locate Articles & Citations | |
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| Much of your coursework
will involve using articles (brief compositions) published in periodicals (journals,
newspapers, magazines, etc.) because they provide more current information than
books. Also, original research is usually published in periodicals (primarily
in scholarly journals) and may not be available in books. So determining the most
efficient ways to locate articles relevant to your topic is an important part
of successful research. The library offers periodicals in a variety of media: print, electronic, and microform. However, browsing through any of these media to find useful articles would be time-consuming, even though browsing can sometimes be productive. Therefore, to help you locate articles for your research, the library offers the following "finding tools":  • periodical
databases (online indexes with citations and some full-text articles) • periodical
indexes (print listings of citations) • periodical
abstracts (print listings of citations and abstracts)Depending on the database or print publication, information about articles can take three forms: • the complete
article plus citation (publication information), • a citation,
or • a citation
plus an abstract, which is a brief summaryAlso, periodicals include publications of many types. Being able to distinguish between the different periodical types is an important skill when selecting the best sources for your research. The Periodical Types: Telling the Difference page offers criteria to help you distinguish between some major periodical types: scholarly journals, trade journals, popular magazines, and general interest magazines. To help you learn more about locating articles and citations, the following sections • give information
about each type of finding tool, • explain
why each tool might be preferred in specific instances, • link to
lists of the libraries' holdings for each tool, • link to
usage instructions for each tool, • provide
example entries and explanations of their parts, and • link to
either the tools or to instructions for locating the tools in the library.
When to Use: Databases are most useful for finding current information because only a few databases contain information prior to the mid-1980s or early 1990s. However, the library does offer some databases that contain earlier articles and citations. For example, JSTOR offers some articles from as early as the 1600s, and PsycINFO offers articles and citations beginning in the 1800's. Also, some databases do not offer articles from the most recent issues of selected periodicals due to restrictions from the publisher (called an embargo). Also, some articles may be missing from issues due to writers not relinquishing their copyrights to the periodical publishers and due to vendor error or inclusion policies. Therefore, print "finding tools" may still be necessary for current materials. If you're searching in a database that does not cover the years you need, do not give up. The libraries' periodical indexes and periodical abstracts, which are discussed in the next sections, should provide adequate coverage for the time periods not included in the databases. In addition, the library offers a number of services to help you obtain items from other libraries. See the "Obtain Items from Other Libraries" page for more information about these services. How to Search: Most databases allow users to use keyword, subject, title, and author searches. Also, some databases offer more sophisticated searching capabilities such as restricting results to scholarly journals and limiting searches by date, type, and language. The Database Search Instructions page offers detailed information about searching databases. Also, the Database Search Features page offers a chart that lists the databases' search features. Remember, if Tarleton is not your Internet Service Provider, accessing the databases requires that you set the proxy server and use your Tarleton network username and password (the same ones used for Tarleton e-mail and campus computer login). Additional information about accessing library resources from off-campus sites is available on the Access from Off-Campus Locations page. The libraries' databases can be accessed from the Online Databases page, and tips for searching some of the libraries' databases are available on the Tips for Using Specific Databases page.
Some periodical indexes are general and cover many subjects, while others are subject specific. The Guide to Periodical Indexes page offers brief summaries of the Tarleton libraries' periodical indexes to help you choose indexes most suited to your research needs. When to Use: The coverage in indexes extends further back than databases because they are an older "finding tool" than databases. In many ways, periodical indexes are like printed databases without the electronic searching mechanisms and full-text capabilities. Locating older material (often before the 1990s) will most often require the use of print indexes because many databases do not include material prior to the mid-1980s or early 1990s. However, some databases do provide earlier materials, as explained in the "Periodical Databases" section above. How to Use: Citations in indexes are arranged by subject and then by subsets of the subject and usually contain the following information: • article
title & author • periodical
title in which the article appears • volume,
issue, date the periodical, and • page numbers
for the articleIn addition, the citations may indicate if the article is illustrated or has a bibliography, as well as supply added notes to clarify the article's title and purpose. The Using the Periodical Indexes page offers more detailed instructions and explains • how to
find an index's call number in the library catalog, • how to
locate a periodical index in the libraries' collection, • how to
use indexes to find citations, and • how to
find the periodical given in the citation.Example Citation: To illustrate what a citation looks like, the following example was taken from the 1997 Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature:
Here's what the pieces of this citation mean:
Now, all that's needed is to locate the August 1997 issue of Down Beat (either in the print collection or the online databases), find page 66, and read the article. More information about how to locate the periodical is described on the Using the Periodical Indexes page. Please note that entries in different periodical indexes will probably not look the same and may not give the same information. Therefore, reading the introduction in whichever periodical index you're using will help you use it efficiently and get better results, as well as save you time.
When to Use: Like the periodical indexes, periodical abstracts have existed much longer than databases; therefore, locating older materials (often before the 1990s) may require the use of these finding tools. While some databases do offer citations and articles prior to the 1990s, many do not. Also, a major advantage of using periodical abstracts is that they offer both citations and abstracts. Therefore, determining the potential value of an article is an easier process because the abstracts help you evaluate the articles' usefulness. How to Use: Each issue of a periodical abstract is arranged by sub-topics within a subject. For example, Chemical Abstracts contains abstracts arranged in two major sections with several minor sections: • Biochemistry
(pharmacology, biochemical genetics, etc.) and • Organic
Chemistry (general organic chemistry, physical organic chemistry, alkaloids, etc.).
Many periodical abstracts also include author and/or subject indices to make locating useful articles easier. The Using the Periodical Abstracts page offers more detailed instructions and explains • how to
find a periodical abstract's call number in the library catalog, • how to
locate a periodical abstract in the libraries' collection, • how to
use periodical abstracts to find citations, and • how to
find the periodical given in the citation.Example Entry: To illustrate what a citation and abstract might look like, the following example was taken from the February 2000 Sociological Abstracts:
Here's what the pieces of this entry mean:
Now, all that's needed is to locate the September 1999 issue of Contemporary Sociology (either in the print collection or the online databases), find page 510, and read the article. More information about how to locate the periodical is described on the Using the Periodical Abstracts page. Please note that entries in different periodical indexes will probably not look the same and may not give the same information. Therefore, reading the introduction in whichever periodical index you're using will help you use the index efficiently and get better results, as well as save you time. Please note that entries in different periodical abstracts will probably not look the same and may not give the same information. Therefore, reading the introduction in whichever periodical abstract you're will help you use it efficiently and get better results, as well as save you time. |