Video Tutorial
For a quick overview of how to search for articles using the library's "Search Everything" (which searches many, but not all of the library's databases), click on the video below. Many of the tips and tricks you'll learn in this video can be applied to other databases, including those on the right.
Definitions
Database: A large, regularly updated file of digitized information (bibliographic records, abstracts, full-text documents, images, statistics, etc.) related to a specific subject or field, consisting of records of uniform format organized for ease and speed of search and retrieval, and managed with the aid of a database management system software.
Periodical: A publication appearing at regular (or irregular) intervals with its own distinctive title, containing a mix of articles, editorials, reviews, columns, short stories, poems, or other short works written by more than one contributor, issued in soft-cover more than once. Examples include journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Article: A self-contained nonfiction prose composition on a fairly narrow topic or subject, written by one or more authors and published under a separate title in a periodical containing other works of the same form.
Remote Access
Go to the following FAQs to learn more about accessing the databases remotely:
Sociology-Specific Databases
- Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)This full-text resource provides access to a wide assortment of the most important English-language social science journals. Social Sciences Full Text includes full-text articles from hundreds of journals, covering the latest concepts, theories and methods from both applied and theoretical aspects of the social sciences. Content Includes: Full-text articles from 360 journals Full-text content dating as far back as 1972 High-quality indexing for more than 750 periodicals, over 510 of which are peer-reviewed.
- SocINDEX with Full TextProvides full-text for over 850 journals as well as abstracts for about 1,300 "core" coverage journals dating as far back as 1895. In addition, this database provides indexing from more than 450 "priority" coverage journals and about 2,000 "selective" coverage journals. Contains extensive indexing for books/monographs (with about 850 available full-text), conference papers, and other non-periodical content sources. Also includes searchable cited references.
- Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCovers criminology, criminal justice, corrections and prisons, police and policing, forensic sciences and investigation, history of crime, substance abuse, probation, and parole. Contains over 200,000 records. Coverage is from 1910 to the present.
- Annual Reviews Complete A-Z List This link opens in a new windowSelective access to annual reviews in the life sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences. Some titles provide abstracts only. Coverage dates vary.
General Databases
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowFeatures full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press with titles dating from 1990. Contains about 2 million articles from more than 300 publications with both national and regional coverage.
- Family Studies Abstracts This link opens in a new windowAbstracts related to family studies, including families, marriage, divorce, and family therapy. Contains over 50,000 records.
- GenderWatch This link opens in a new windowOffers authoritative historical and current perspectives on the evolution of gender roles as they affect both men and women. Coverage is from 1970 to the present.
- PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new windowProvides access to over 100,000 searchable full text articles from 48 journals published by the American Psychological Association from 1894 to the present.
- Psychology & Behavioral Sciences CollectionA comprehensive database covering information concerning topics in emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational & experimental methods. This is the world's largest full text psychology database offering full text coverage for nearly 400 journals.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text of over 1400 core scholarly journals and Books across most subject areas.
Can be used for course content: Titles from many university presses and other academic publishers
Finding a Copy of a Periodical Article from a Database
Locating the full text of the article in electronic form
Full text articles available directly in databases are indicated by HTML Full Text or PDF Full Text. Full text articles available with the wording such as Linked Full Text are available in another database. Clicking on the link will connect either to the full text article or the other database.
Requesting an article on interlibrary loan
If you find an article from a periodical that is not available at Milne Library, you can request the article using the library’s interlibrary loan service. See a librarian for help.
Finding an article in a specific journal
- Use the Journals tab on the library home page.
- Enter the title of the journal or magazine, for example, Critical Sociology, in the search box.
- Look for the journal title in the results list.
- Online journals are available online through the link, Available Online. If the journal is in print, its availability and location in the library will be indicated. An example of a journal that is available both online and in print is below:
JOURNAL
Current history (New York, N.Y. : 1941)
1941-
Available at Milne Library Periodicals Collection, Reading Room, 1st floor (D410
.C82) and other locations
Available Online
- To obtain an online copy of an article, click on the Available Online link and go to the section, Full text availability, and click on an appropriate database.
- Link to the correct issue of the periodical (note the year, issue, volume number, and pages numbers of the article).
Print journals and newspapers in our Periodicals Collection are available for 1-day use in the library building.