How To Find Articles

Traditionally, print indexes were used to find citations to journal and magazine articles. Although we subscribe to and still use several print indexes (Philosophy Index and Women's Studies Abstracts, to name two), electronic indexes, abstracts, and full text databases are your main source of finding journal and magazine articles. The Eckerd College Library subscribes to over 80 electronic databases in every subject area. The Databases web page lists databases by broad academic area, or you can view the complete alphabetical descriptive list.

Since we pay to subscribe to these resources, they are limited to the Eckerd College community either by password or network restriction. For more information about accessing databases from off campus, either obtain a copy of "Off-Campus Access to the Online Resources of the Eckerd College Library" from the library or call the library to have it sent to you via email (Eckerd affiliation will be verified before a copy is sent).

Each database has a unique search interface, but applying basic search principles to each search session can reduce the amount of time it takes to find relevant articles. With practice and perseverance, you will become a better and more intuitive researcher.

Basic Searching Principles:

• Make a list of search words or phrases to describe what you're looking for before you begin your search. Search words that produce results in one database might fall flat in another. When you plan your search on paper first, you'll have alternative words and phrases ready for each search. For example, a search on the topic of women and sports should also include the terms: female, girls, athletics, athletes, and physical fitness.
• Familiarize yourself with the different ways each database performs a search. Some databases combine your words as a phrase ("united states civil war", endangered species"), some will put an AND between the words (international AND trade AND china), and some will put an OR between the words (endangered OR species). Combining your terms in each way results in very different outcomes, sometimes resulting in citations unrelated to your topic.
• Familiarize yourself with the scope, content, and date ranges of each database. The Subject Guides contain subject-specific databases for each Eckerd College major.
• If your search pulls up no or irrelevant citations, don't assume there are no articles on your topic! Ask a librarian for assistance; we are search professionals and can help you find articles on any topic and supply you with additional search strategies.