Searching and Using Databases

Use this tab on the library’s homepage to access databases or go directly to the database page.library’s homepagedatabase page

Suggested Databases 3 Multidisciplinary Academic Search Premier Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center Project MUSE Credo Reference News Lexis Nexis New York Times Access World News Other databases by subject

Once you are on the databases page, you can either select a database from the alphabetical list or select a category from Databases by Subject, such as Multidisciplinary.

The following examples will take place in Academic Search Premier.

Searching Databases 6 Open Database Keyword search Be mindful of alternative ways to say the same thing Choose Limiters Full Text Peer-Reviewed View results Save to folder Select Citation style /Print

This is the front page for Academic Search Premier. Before you begin searching you should set your preferences and choose the databases you wish to search.

When you set your preferences, make sure that you set your citation format and enter your address so that you can send articles and citations to yourself. You can also change your settings so that your results are sorted by relevance.

You can search multiple databases in addition to Academic Search Premier by selecting “Choose Databases.” Depending on your topic, Education Research Complete, Health Source, Newspaper Source or other databases listed here may be appropriate.

Once you have set your preferences and chosen your databases, you may want to limit your search. You will probably want to select Full Text and, depending on the requirements for you paper, you may want to select Scholarly Journals. You can also select document or publication types or limit your results to items published within a specific date range. Keep in mind, however, that the more limits you place on your search, the fewer results your search will return.

Now you can finally begin searching. Type your key words into the search boxes. Keep in mind that you must use key words, not complete questions or ideas like you would use with Google. For more information about key word searching visit the Google vs Library Databases wiki.Google vs Library Databases wiki

Select an article that you wish to use, or add several articles to a folder that you can review later.

Once you are looking at the article details, you can view the article, it to yourself, view the citation, or add the article to your folder. The following slides will show each of these options. view article add to folder view citation

View Article as PDF Viewing the article will either give you a PDF or an HTML text document. If you get a PDF, this is the best format in which to save or print your article. Do this using these buttons rather than selecting print or save from the menu. print save

View Article in HTML Full Text print save If you are viewing the article in HTML full text, it is still best to use the print and save buttons provided by the database.

When ing, you must click “PDF as separate attachment” and/or “HTML Full Text,” if you want the full text of the article to be ed to you. The body of the will contain the article’s citation and the HTML Full Text of the article, if selected.

View Citation You can view the citation rather than e- mail it to yourself, just be sure to save it so that you have it later.

Add to Folder Items in your folder will show up on the right sidebar. You can either click on an item title to view the article details or click “Folder View” to see all the items in your folder.

Your folder allows you to, again, view the article and the article. You can also view the article details. If you click “Sign in to My EBSCOhost,” you can create an account that allows you to save your searches and folders for future sessions. Use your Cabrini address as your username and the corresponding password the first time you log in. If you do not use this function, all of your searches will be lost once you close your browser or your session times out from inactivity.