FYW Guide to Finding Articles //
Why do I need to find articles?
Articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals will always be more current than books, and more numerous. You may not be able to find books in any library on every single topic, but the UArts Libraries subscribe to a wide variety of online periodical indexes and databases that allow you to find material on just about any topic.
This is very important to keep in mind when doing research. Relatively few people have even one book written about them; many more people have articles written about them or their work; the same would apply to any topic. Articles can also be a great way to find a primary source such as an interview or a performance review. Depending on your topic, you may not want any books at all.
What is a PERIODICAL INDEX?
A periodical index is a research tool that allows you to quickly search thousands of PUBLISHED ARTICLES. Use it to search the contents of periodicals (magazines, journals, serials or newspapers).
Subject content of indexes may be general or limited by topic or time period. Many new indexes have extended access beyond the periodical and include other publication types (books, e-journal articles, dissertations). Some indexes allow you to limit your search results to scholarly journals or full text.
Where do I find INDEXES?
The University Libraries subscribe to online periodical, image, audio, video and reference databases in a range of subjects and time periods. You can use them if you attend or work for the university.
- Go to https://library.uarts.edu
- Under ONLINE RESOURCES, choose Articles from the different types of databases listed
- Or go directly to: Online Resources or All Databases A-Z
- To access an index, click on its name.
- If you are OFF-CAMPUS, you will have to log in.
For help in selecting which one to use, read the descriptions that appear when you place the cursor on the titles in All Databases A-Z.
Do all online indexes LOOK ALIKE?
No, each publisher creates a different interface. However, they all
- share basic search components such as fields and records.
- employ search conventions such as browsing, limiting, Boolean logic (and, or, not) and controlled vocabulary.
- use interactive features such as search boxes, buttons and pull-down menus.
- have their own HELP feature to assist you.
Some helpful features to look for are:
- online video search tutorials
- ability to limit search to SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES (may be referred to as peer-reviewed)
- ability to search by SUBJECT
- ability to SORT by relevancy or by date
- availability of FULL-TEXT articles
What will my SEARCH RESULTS look like?
They will be in citation form.
- A CITATION gives you the information you need to find the actual article: author, article title, journal title, volume number, date and page numbers.
- Most indexes will allow you to e-mail or print your list of citations.
- Most search results in a periodical index are NOT WEB SITES, they are citations to articles that were actually printed and published in newspapers and journals; some may be scanned into digital format (full-text).
Where do I LOCATE the magazines that contain the ARTICLES?
Once you have a list of relevant citations from your search, the next step is to locate the magazines (journals, periodicals, serials) or newspapers.
- The FIRST place to look for an article is the index you are using. Some offer the FULL TEXT option, which means there is a link from the citation to the entire article online. You can usually e-mail these to yourself.
- The SECOND place to look is the periodical collection in the University Libraries. Some indexes provide a link that will search the library catalog for you. If you don't see one, do a TITLE search for the journal title (not article title) in the library catalog.
- If we do not have what you are looking for, use interlibrary loan to obtain materials not owned by the UArts Libraries. Interlibrary loan is a service for requesting books and articles from other libraries. Articles now take within 2 days to arrive in most cases.