Arthur Lakes Library Instruction: Finding Journal Articles

Library Instruction: Finding Journal Articles
Arthur Lakes Library Colorado School of Mines 1400 Illinois Street Golden, Colorado 80401 Phone: (303) 273-3911 Fax: (303) 273-3199 www.mines.edu/library
Finding a journal article on a specific topic:
Finding a journal article on a specific topic is a multi-step process. Identify the journal article databases appropriate to your search. Identify journal articles that you want to look at by searching a journal article database. Obtain the journal article by: locating the print journal article in the Library, or finding the journal in the GoldRush list, or using the database features to view an electronic version if available, or using Article Finder to find the full-text article from another online source, or ordering the article via interlibrary loan
Use an article index to identify articles on your subject:
Article indexes allow you to search the contents of hundreds of magazines or journals at one time. Each article index has a specific list of magazines or journals that it indexes and will usually cover a wide range of years. Indexes can save you time. Without them, you would have to look through each issue separately! Many article indexes are available online and may be accessed from the Library, your dorm room, a computer lab, or from home. Connecting From Off Campus provides instructions for off-campus access.
Choose an index that is appropriate to your subject:
The general article indexes below are good starting points for undergraduate research. They cover a wide range of subjects and are useful when searching for popular magazine or scholarly journal articles on a topic with multidisciplinary aspects. These and other indexes, both general and subject based, can be found using the Library's databases page. General Article Indexes Academic Search Premier: Provides full text for more than 3,460 scholarly publications covering many academic areas of study ; updated daily. Full text dates vary by publication. Expanded Academic: Indexes 2800 titles in most academic subjects, many with full text, from 1980 onward. Ingenta (formerly UnCover) Includes brief descriptive information for over 12,00,000 articles in over 26,000 multidisciplinary journals since Fall 1988.
Search the index:
Indexes allow you to search by keyword, subject, author, and title. Some databases such as Reader's Guide allow you to limit your search to titles that the CSM Library may own, or to full-text electronic journal articles. Your search will return a list of articles. Clicking on the title of an article in this list will show you its citation. The citation usually includes the title, author, journal title, date, and publication information. Depending on the index you have chosen, it may also include an abstract (summary) or the full text of the article, and it may include subject terms. These terms can be helpful in expanding your search. If you have difficulty searching, check these search tips, or consult the Database User Guides.
Locate the electronic version of the article:
If the article can be displayed full-text take a moment to evaluate it to determine if it meets your needs. If it does, you may want to print it or email it to yourself. Printing costs $0.10 per page at the Library. If it can not be displayed in full-text, look for a link to Article Finder. Alternatively, check GoldRush. Catalyst can also be consulted but it does not include all electronic journals. If the article is not available online in full-text, print or write down the citation information, especially the journal title, volume, date, and page number. Then go to the next step. Consumer Tip: Consider both print and electronic journal articles as information sources. Why? Most journal articles are available only in print. Some electronic versions of journal articles are incomplete--they may lack illustrations or graphics. Learn more about full-text databases.
Use Catalyst to find the print version of the journal or magazine in the Library
Use Catalyst's Journal Title search to see if we subscribe to the journal, what years we own, and where it is located. In general, journals are shelved alphabetically by name. If you are unsure where to go in the Library stacks to find the journal, check our location guide or our interactive map.
If you are unable to find the journal:
For additional help in locating your journal title in Catalyst or on the shelves contact one of our skilled Reference librarians. Article indexes will include records for magazines or journals not owned by this Library. If an article is important to your research, use the Library's interlibrary loan service to obtain it.