How To: Find Journals and Articles

To perform a specific article or journal search, you must already know some information about the article / journal for which you are looking. At a minimum you should know the journal name -- this is enough information to perform your specific journal search. To perform a specific article search, you should have the title of the article and the name of the journal in which it was published. Date published will also be extremely helpful in this type of search.

To begin your search, you should visit the Norma Wood Library Homepage. From the "Start Your Research" section click the Find a Specific Journal link in the side menu. This will take you to the library's E-Journal Portal. The E-Journal Portal is a handy tool to look up any journal, magazine or newspaper that the library subscribes to -- whether that publication is available in print or online.

On the E-Journal page, type in the name of the journal for which you are searching and click the Search button-- use this search method whether you are looking for a journal or for an article within that journal.

As you can see in the example above, if the library subscribes to the journal, you should see it and all the library's holdings both online and in print in the results list.

As you can see in the example above, ProQuest first lists the publication name and full-text coverage then allows you to search within the publication (for your specific article title or for a general topic) or to browse all available issues by date. You may notice in the example above that the "Latest available issue" dates begin with the most current issue (in this case, April 2015) but remember that you will be able to access full text only for the dates indicated at the top of the page (in this case, May 1997 thru October 2003).

PLEASE NOTE: If the journal you are looking for is in a database other than ProQuest, your journal index page will look different than the picture above. All of the database's journal index pages work basically the same way but if you ever need help please don't hesitate to ask either in person, on the phone or via email.

When you are searching for articles by topic, the best way to begin your search is using one of the library databases. For example, let's say your instructor has assigned you a 5 page paper on illegal immigration and has required everyone to have 5 sources. Where to begin?

The best place to start is using the library databases. To see a list - along with descriptions - of the library databases, please visit the library's Research Databases page. If you have never used the library databases before and are unsure of their contents or purpose, we have prepared a free database tutorial available to all current ASUMH students via Canvas. It is highly recommended that you take the time to explore this tutorial since the information offered can save you hours of frustrated searching for the information you need.

If you are having trouble finding information on your topic, you may want to read the library's guide to Learning the Research Basics. If you still cannot find the type of information you need please make an appointment to meet with the library director, who can help you target your information sources. Call the library at 870-508-6112 or email cybrarian@asumh.edu to schedule a meeting time.