Searching for Journal Articles with EBSCOhost Shannon Betts, MAT, MLS Reference Librarian Post University

Transcription

1 Searching for Journal Articles with EBSCOhost Shannon Betts, MAT, MLS Reference Librarian Post University * Please note: This tutorial reflects the EBSCOhost advanced search interface in place as of August 1, As EBSCOhost is undergoing periodic revisions, please check back to this tutorial for future updates. Although databases such as EBSCOhost change in their look and feel from time to time, the essential functions remain the same.

2 How to Use this Tutorial This tutorial provides basic instruction in searching EBSCOhost for journal articles. The paw print icon will direct you to first read the overview on each slide. You may then want to review the secondary information and tips as needed. You will find these in the margins and labels surrounding each screenshot. The tutorial can be used in two ways. You can locate a specific topic by referring to the outline of slides and selecting by title slide, or view the presentation from beginning to end in sequence. For more detailed instruction in searching for journal articles with EBSCOhost, please contact the library at or us at library@post.edu

3 Searching EBSCOhost for Journal Articles EBSCOhost is a reference system which provides access to a broad collection of databases. EBSCOhost allows you to search many databases at one time to retrieve millions of digitized abstracts, full-text journal articles, news articles, dissertations and more. It will also help you to narrow and expand your search, provide alternative search terms and help you to organize your research. This guide is intended to provide instruction about basic features of EBSCOhost in searching for academic journal articles. For more instruction, contact the Traurig Library. How to get there: 1. Go to the library website at and click on EBSCOhost in the right-hand column. 2. If you are searching for journals off-campus, your browser will load this screen: Enter your 14-digit barcode. If you do not have one, your name, type of program, FULL address and phone number to library@post.edu If you re searching on-campus (or after you enter your 14-digit barcode if searching off-campus), your browser will load this screen. (Choose Databases)

4 EBSCOhost Searching Choose Databases Screen Click checkboxes to choose databases, then click the Continue button. This is a list of databases provided by EBSCOhost as part of our library subscription. Choose one or more of the 12+ subject databases to search by checking the box to the left of each title, then clicking on Continue. You can search multiple databases at once. Each title list link provides a list of the journals indexed by each database. Points of View Reference Center features essays about controversial topics with supporting references. This is searchable separately. For example, to search a database with a broad multidisciplinary coverage, choose Academic Search Premier, then Continue. As another example, to search for articles on a topic within the field of education, choose Academic Search Premier, then Research Starters Education, then Education Research Complete. Lastly, click on Continue.

5 Enter Keywords, subject terms or author names in search boxes. To limit to publication type such as periodicals, select here. EBSCOhost Searching Main Search Screen To limit your results to scholarly articles or full text, check the limiter boxes. When all limiters are set and search terms are entered, click Search. Notice how this advanced search screen provides options for searching by key word, subject, author, title and many ways to limit your search results. Limit your results by date. Folder allows you to temporarily store and organize documents To limit your results to articles that are located in our campus library in print, check the Traurig Library limiter box.

6 Academic Search Premier, is our chosen database and we re searching articles on professional ethics. We can set the Full Text limiter in the results screen also if we need to retrieve the articles directly to the computer. The Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals limiter is set and we have retrieved 4,454 results of abstracts and full text articles. Try to narrow searches to a reasonable number that you can evaluate in one research session, about hits or less. EBSCOhost Sample Search Results Screen: Setting Limiters Let s walk through a sample search. First, we ll open up the subject term menu to see EBSCOs suggestions of sub-categories to narrow the results, then we ll limit by date to retrieve articles published in the last 10 years. Of course, limiting by date is highly variable depending on your topic. ** Tip: EBSCOhost continuously provides suggestions for narrowing or expanding your search by providing subject categories, thesaurus terms and more. Click on the headings to open up the suggestions.

7 Now that we've narrowed the search by publication date to those articles published in the last 10 years, we ve retrieved 3,150 hits. Still too many to evaluate in one research session! We've opened up the subject term menu to see EBSCOs suggestions on subcategories to narrow the results. By clicking on this link, lets choose Psychological aspects to locate articles which are relevant to this area of professional ethics. Watch how the search results and screen changes once we apply this limiter. EBSCOhost Sample Search: Limiting by Subject and Thesaurus Terms Let s limit the results by date and subject terms that EBSCOhost provides.

8 Notice how we ve narrowed our search to 20 recent, scholarly articles by using the limiters. EBSCOhost Searching: Limiting by Subject Terms After combining the search terms professional ethics AND "psychological aspects, we ve narrowed the search to 20 abstracts and full text articles to evaluate. We can remove this subject term limiter (and try another) by clicking this orange X button. Now that we have a reasonable number of articles to evaluate, lets look at ways that EBSCOhost organizes citations and how it can help us to manage information. Tip: It is helpful to keep a written record of the subject and thesaurus terms that EBSCOhost suggests in your searches. It will help you search other databases also.

9 Title of Article Author(s) A Close-up of EBSCOhost Results Page/Parts of a Citation Date Published Volume and Issue (Vol. 19, Issue 7) Pages within printed journal Journal (Also called Publication or Source) Charts, illustrations Length of article Add to folder feature for saving, organizing, ing, formatting citations. PDF/HTML Full Text if link not present, this is an abstract. Holding note(s) Does the library have this journal in print? Database from which Retrieved Preview Button The preview button activates a pop-up window to view the abstract and article citation without opening the full item. Understanding the parts of a citation can help make your search much easier. Take a close look at how EBSCOhost organizes this information. If you don t see a link under each entry for PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text, you are looking at an abstract, which is a summary of an article.

10 When you click on the underlined article titles from the results list, you ll see a detailed record. If the article is offered in full text, you will also see a link to the PDF full text document. From this screen you can view the citation, view subject terms, manage your document and open the full text article. Reading and Managing an EBSCOhost Abstract or Article Tools Area allows you to manage your items. Add to folder will temporarily save item for document management and allow you to apply the print, , save, cite, and export functions, among others. Click on PDF Full Text Document to open a complete copy of article You can also search by any subject term by clicking on any subject link. Cite will create a citation in MLA, APA and other common style format for this item that you can paste into a reference list.

11 Another of EBSCOhost s time-saving features is the folder that allows you to save, distribute, format and organize your research. I chose item 17 in our search and added it to the folder with the icon, Once I ve added the item to the folder, the icon under the citation changes to look like this: I can see that the folder icon in the blue menu bar at top of the page has changed, too. It now looks like this: I can now click on the folder on the menu bar and view the contents of all the articles I ve added. The EBSCOhost Folder: What can it Do? I can print, , save and/or export this item by clicking these icons after I select the record. The EBSCOhost folder functions help you to organize your information. You can print, , save, or export articles in formats such as APA and MLA. In this folder view, we see that I have one article. After I select the box to the left of the citation, I can use the icons at the top of the citation to manage this article.

12 Once you save items to the folder, the folder will perform all these functions until you close the database. If you want to keep an ongoing record of searches and save your articles, you can create a personalized user profile in MY EBSCOhost. After you do this, you can access all your articles and saved searches from any computer with your 14-digit barcode. Click here for a 5-minute video tutorial to guide you through setting up a MY EBSCOhost account. EBSCOhost Folder Functions Main Page Print Save to external flash drive Export to citation manager Tip: if you are printing a PDF Full Text document, click directly on link from main folder page.

13 EBSCOhost Folder Functions Printing from the Folder Before you print a full text article from the folder, check to see if it is a PDF document or an HTML document. EBSCOhost prints each with a different process. Directions below demonstrate how to print an HTML document and how to set your preferences. Printing HTML Documents and Article Abstracts 1. You can set the defaults for Standard Field Format and Citation Format on the Preferences Screen. The selections that are set on Preferences will be applied when printing. 2. Click Print. The Estimate Number of Pages function will count the number of pages to print the abstract and HTML document (if available and if you have selected the HTML full text document as part of your print job). PDF printing will not show here. Choosing the Citation Format will allow you to put your citation in the style of your choosing: MLA, APA, Chicago- Turabian, etc. This will help you to create your reference list in the correct format. Set your printing preferences here. You may choose Standard Field Format or Citation Format. (Recommended) **Tip: If all you need to do is print an article, it is faster to print PDF documents by clicking the PDF document link underneath the citation within the results list or in the main EBSCOhost folder screen. You will use the Adobe print function within the PDF document.

14 EBSCOhost Folder Functions: ing Articles from the Folder Use the function to help you organize your journal articles by ing them to your account with titles and descriptive comments. To a journal article: 1. Enter your address in the To: box 2. Name your subject with title of article. 3. Include any comments that will help you recall the value of this article to your research. 4. You can set the defaults for Standard Field Format and Citation Format on the Preferences Screen. The selections that are set on Preferences will be applied when printing. 5. Click Send. Set your preferences here. Here also, you may choose Standard Field Format or Citation Format (Recommended). The recommended Citation Format will allow you to put your citation in the style of your choosing: MLA, APA, Chicago-Turabian, etc.

15 How to Save to external flash drive: 1. Set your saving preferences on the right. 2. You can set the defaults for Standard Field Format and Citation Format on the Preferences Screen. The selections that are set on Preferences will be applied when saving. 3. Click Save. The next screen will give you directions about saving to a drive within the browser program. EBSCOhost Folder Functions: Saving Articles Saving articles is a two step process which uses the EBSCOhost functions in conjunction with your browser save feature. Set your saving preferences here. You may choose Standard Field Format or Citation Format (Recommended). (cont. next slide)

16 4. To complete the save function, follow the directions here using your browsers toolbar. If you have chosen the recommended Citation Format, the item is formatted in the style that you chose. EBSCOhost advises that you check the accuracy of the format, using style guides. Click below for links to online style resources for MLA and APA format. Below the citation, you ll see a persistent link that will bring you back to the full text article. EBSCOhost Folder Functions: Saving Articles Here is the second step to saving articles to your computer or an external device from EBSCOhost. Use your browser to save as a plain text file (.txt) or as a Web Page, HTML only file (.html). See the saving preferences that you have set reflected here.

17 The Citation Manager allows you to export abstracts, full text documents and citations to an external citation management software such as EndNote or RefWorks. EBSCOhost Folder Functions Exporting to Citation Manager Export to Citation Manager 1. Choose the software program to which you would like to export the record. 2. Click Save.

18 Thank you for viewing this tutorial. We hope that Searching for Journal Articles with EBSCOhost has been helpful to your research. If you have questions about EBSCOhost or other services not covered in this tutorial, please contact the library. Traurig Library and Learning Resources Center Post University 800 Country Club Road, PO Box 2540 Waterbury, CT Phone: Fax: