Accessing On-Line databases for citations to articles and for full-text articles

    From the Library's Home Page (library.uncwil.edu), select "Database and Article Searching."  Databases are listed in
    alphabetical order.

Search Statements

    Consists of a) literal words and b) logical words
    Literal words are key words that are important to the topic.  For instance, you want information on head injuries that result
    from skiing accidents.   The literal (key) words you should choose would be "head," "injuries," and "skiing."

    Logical words, also called "operators," instruct the system to retrieve records containing the literal words according to the 
    logic assigned.

         AND=retrieves records containing BOTH words.  For instance, the search statement, "head and injury and skiing," 
        retrieves records that contain all three words.  AND is restrictive.

         OR=retrieves records containing EITHER word.  For instance, the search statement, "injury or injuries," retrieves records
         containing either "injury" or "injuries."  The records do not have to contain both words.  OR is expansive.

    If you leave an operator out of the statement, most systems search for the words as a phrase.  For instance, if you key in 
    "head injury," most systems retrieve records that contain both words "head" and "injury," and the two words appear beside 
    each other.

    Sample Search Statements
        head and injury and skiing
        head and (injury or injuries) and skiing
        head injury and skiing

Specialized Databases (these databases can be found in the Databases link http://library.uncwil.edu/elist3.html on the
     Randall Library home page)
    
     These databases do not provide full-text articles.  You must locate the article in the library.  If the library does not own a
     subscription to the periodical you need, you may request a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan.  Please allow 2 - 3
     weeks for the article to arrive.

    A.  SportDiscus
        To retrieve articles that come from research and scholarly periodicals, use le=advanced.
        Sample Search Statement:  head and injury and skiing and le=advanced
       
        To limit searches to journal articles only, select "Advanced Search."   Enter search statement in the first box.  Scroll
        down the screen until you see the box labeled "Special limiters for ERIC."  At the box labeled "Journal or Document,"
        click on  the arrow and select "Journal Articles." 

    B.  PsycInfo--Guide to PsycInfo
        To retrieve only periodical articles, use dt=journal-article
        To retrieve articles that are literature reviews, use literature-review in de
        Sample Search Statements:  dt=journal article and head and injury
                                                   head and injury and literature-review in de

        To limit searches to journal articles only, select "Advanced Search."   Enter search statement in the first box.  Scroll
        down the screen until you see the box labeled "Special limiters for ERIC."  At the box labeled "Journal or Document,"
        click on  the arrow and select "Journal Articles." 

    C.  Medline (available through ScienceDirect and PubMED)

    D.  ERIC--Guide to ERIC
        Materials Indexed In Eric:
            ED Documents (unpublished and on microfiche)
            EJ Documents (articles in periodicals)

        To limit searches to journal articles only, select "Advanced Search."   Enter search statement in the first box.  Scroll
        down the screen until you see the box labeled "Special limiters for ERIC."  At the box labeled "Journal or Document,"
        click on the arrow and select "Journal Articles." 

    E.  CINAHL--Guide to CINAHL
        To retrieve scholarly articles in CINAHL,
            1.  Press Advanced Search from the initial screen.
            2.  In the first box, key in the words "research."
            3.  In the box to the right, press the arrow and select "Document Type Phrase."
            4.  In the next box, enter your key words and appropriate operators.
            5.  In the boxes labeled "Limit to Type:" select, "Journal."
            6.  Press Start Search.

    F.  GeoRef--Guide to GeoRef
    To retrieve articles from periodicals, use the following search strategy:
    land use and park and dt=serial not (dt=conference-document or dt=abstract)

Interdisciplinary Databases
     You may get some full-text articles from these databases, EbscoHost and InfoTrac OneFile.  Because the databases are
     interdisciplinary, they may not provide as many articles as you need.  Supplement your searches with specialized databases.

Last Update: December 12, 2005