How to Search for Articles
This tutorial will help you learn how to search for articles using journal article databases online.
This tutorial is quite lengthy so you may want to print this page to follow along as you search for journal articles. We have provided the following topics in this tutorial:
	1 - Introduction to searching journal article databases 2 - How do I search for articles? 3 - Viewing the results 4 - Viewing full-text articles 5 - Printing full-text articles 6 - Finding articles that are not full-text in a journal article database
1- INTRODUCTION TO SEARCHING JOURNAL ARTICLE DATABASES:
Why is Searching a Database Better than Searching the Internet?
	Using journal article databases for your research will give you better results than searching the Internet. The Los Angeles Public Library has created a great web page that outlines the reasons article databases are better than Internet searches for academic research.
What is a Journal Article Database?
	A journal article database is an index of journal article citations organized for convenient access online. A citation includes the title of the article and the title of the journal, author of the article, page numbers, date of publication and other information. Journal article databases are now including more and more links to the complete articles online. Full text article databases are very useful and can save time, but even those will have some article citations that do not have links to the complete article.
2 - HOW DO I SEARCH FOR ARTICLES?
EBSCO HOST DATABASES:
	1. Identify keywords in your topic. (Example: effects, depression, teenagers) 2. From the NLU Library homepage, click the "Journal Article Search" link. 3. Select "EBSCO Host" to begin your search. NOTE: You will need to login to your NLU Email to have access to the NLU Library article databases. Your Library ID is: 19 (9 replaces the "N" in your NLU student ID) + Your student ID + 2840 (Example: 19233548742840). 4. Choose a subject link or "Search all NLU EBSCO Host Databases." 5. Once you have selected the databases you would like search, click on "Continue." 6. Type in ONE keyword per search box. You may put in keyword phrases like "job satisfaction" with quotation marks. Example: See search box below. The box that contains the word "Default Fields" or "Select a field-optional" tells the database where to look to find the keyword you typed in the box on the left. You will want to change this field if you are searching for a particular author or title of an article.
	7. Then click on "Search" or hit the Enter key. 8. See "Viewing the Results", "Viewing Full Text Articles", and "Printing Full Text Articles" below.
FIRSTSEARCH ILLINOIS DATABASES:
	1. Identify keywords in your topic. (Example: effects, depression, teenagers) 2. From the NLU Library homepage, click the "Journal Article Search" link. 3. Select "FirstSearch Illinois". NOTE: You will needto login to your NLU Email to have access to the NLU Library article databases. Your Library ID is: 19 (9 replaces the "N" in your NLUstudent ID) + Your student ID + 2840 (Example: 19233548742840). 4. Click on the "List All Databases" link under the first tab. Click on only one database if you want to be able to limit to full-text articles. 5. Click on the "Select" button. 6. Type in ONE keyword per search box. You may put in keyword phrases like "job satisfaction" with quotation marks. Example: See search box below. The box that contains the word "Keyword" tells the database where to look to find the keyword you typed in the box on the left. You will want to change this field if you are searching for a particular author or title of an article.
	7. Then click on "Search" or hit the Enter key. 8. See "Viewing the Results", "Viewing Full Text Articles", and "Printing Full Text Articles" below.
3 - VIEWING THE RESULTS:
	Once you have completed your database search, you will have a list of journal articles, sometimes called "Results List" or "List of Records". The results will come up as a list of brief citations (see image below), which may include a link that indicates that full text is available.
	1. Click on the underlined title of an article that seems to fit your topic.
	2. Look at the record. Notice that the full citation provides more infomation than just the author and title. The abstract is provided so that you can decide if this article is right for your research. 3. Notice the other keywords that you may use to refine your search. These keywords may be called "Thesaurus Terms", "Descriptors", "Subjects", or "Subject Terms" (see example below). Combine these keywords with keywords from your topic to retrieve a variety of articles. If you choose to click on one of these keywords, it will execute a search for articles with ONLY that keyword.
	4. Click on the "Results List" link or the "List of Records" link to return to the list of brief citations.
4 - VIEWING FULL-TEXT ARTICLES:
	If the article you select is available in full text, a link will be located below the brief citation (see brief citations image above). If there is no link indicating it is full text, the article is not available through the database you are currently searching (seethe "How Do I Get My Articles" online tutorial on how to find articles that are not full-text.
Full-text articles will be in one of these three formats:
	1) HTML Full Text (found in EBSCOhost and FirstSearch Illinois) - Click on the "HTML Full Text" link to view the article. However, if the print article contains any graphs, photos, images, tables, etc., they may not appear in the full-text version of the article. You may need to get the print version or a PDF version. 2) PDF Full Text (found in EBSCOhost and FirstSearch Illinois) - Click on the "PDF Full Text" link to view the scanned image of the full article, as it would have appeared in a print journal. However, your computer will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view the article. Most computers come with this software already loaded. When you click on the link for the PDF file, the software will automatically launch and load the article. If you do not have this already loaded on your computer, you can download it free from the Adobe webpage. Click here if you need to download this software: Adobe Acrobat Reader software. Beware that loading and printing PDF files can take a long time. 3) Linked Full Text (found only in EBSCOhost) - Click on the "Linked Full Text" link to view a PDF file of the article. You may be redirected to the full citation. Click on the "PDF Full Text" link at the top or bottom of the page. You may be redirected to an Electronic Journal Service provided by EBSCOhost, which contains the full citation. Look for the "Available Full Text" field and click on the "Open in New Window" link. You will now be redirected to another full citation. Scroll down to the Format Selection area. Click the radio button for "PDF (full document)". Click "Request Document". You will then be redirected to the PDF file for the full article.
5 - PRINTING FULL-TEXT ARTICLES:
	In both EBSCO Host and FirstSearch Illinois you can print or email. The email function will allow you to email the citation and full-text articles. When you print, you will want to use the Print button within the databases so that it will reformat the page to only show the text
	1) HTML Full Text in EBSCOhost - Click the "Print" button at the top of the page within the database. Do NOT use the print button on your Internet browser. An EBSCOhost Print Manager box will appear. Click the "Print" button inside the green box. The article will then be reformatted for you printer and the Print dialog box will appear. Click the Print button. The article will now print. 2) HTML Full Text in FirstSearch Illinois - Click the "Print" button at the top of the page within the database. Do NOT use the print button on your Internet browser. The article will be reformatted for your printer and the Print dialog box will appear. Click the "Print" button. The article will now print. 3) PDF Full Text in EBSCOhost - Click the Printer icon in the toolbar at the top of the Adobe Acrobat Reader window. Do NOT use the print button on your Internet browser. The Print dialog box will appear. Click "OK." The article will now print.
6 - FINDING ARTICLES THAT ARE NOT FULL-TEXT IN A JOURNAL ARTICLE DATABASE:
	Before beginning these steps, make sure you print out your article citations, which includes the title of the journal (source), the volume and issue number, the author's name, and the article title.
	1) Locating Journals - ELECTRONIC JOURNALS a. Print the citation of the journal article you want. b. Click on "Journal Article Search" on the left menu bar of NLU Library website. c. Then scroll down and click on "Electronic Journals". d. Type in the title of the journal in the box labeled "Find/Find Next". e. If the title of the journal you are looking for appears, click on title. f. Click on volume and issue to find your article. g. Once you find your article's title, click on "Open in New Window". h. You may have to click on a button that is labeled "PDF" to open the full-text article.
	2) Locating Journals - FULL-TEXT JOURNALS a. Print the citation of the journal article you want. b. Click on "Journal Article Search" on the left menu bar of NLU Library website. c. Then scroll down and click on "Full-Text Journals". d. In the "Find" box located at the top right of your screen, type in the journal's title (Source). e. If your journal title comes up, look to see if the journal's date is covered. f. If the date of your article coincides with the date coverage shown, click on the database that is highlighted. NOTE: There may be more than one listed. You can choose any of them; just make sure they cover the date of your article. g. This should bring up the full-text article.
	3) Locating Journals - NLU PRINT JOURNALS a. Print the citation of the journal article you want. b. Click on "Journal Article Search" on the left menu bar of NLU Library website. c. Then scroll down and click on "NLU Print Journals". d. Type the first letter or start of journal title in the box provided. e. If NLU owns the journal, make sure you check to see if we have the dates you are looking for. f. If this list shows one of the NLU Libraries own the journal, you can pull the journal off the shelf if you are at the campus that owns it or you can fill out a journal request form (instructions for this form are listed below).
	4) REQUEST FORMS a. Print the citation of the journal article you want. b. Click on "Request Forms" on the left menu bar of NLU Library website. c. Click on "Journal Article Request Form". d. Click on "Electronic Form". Type in the information in the boxes provided. The boxes marked with an (*) are required fields. e. We will need the following information on each form: Not Needed After - Put the last possible date you need this article like a week or two before your paper is due. This date lets us know if we have the time to look at other libraries for the article in case we do not have the journal. Your Library or Patron ID is: 19 (9 replaces the "N" in your NLUstudent ID) + Your student ID + 2840 (Example: 19233548742840).
	Content by Tracy Ruppman and Victoria West-Pawl Updated 2/1/05-vwp/jmf