LibGuides: Doing Research: Articles

Choosing Databases

The library has databases with articles on almost every topic. Some databases offer full text of articles, others only the citation, and some will have both. Some are interdisciplinary while others specialize in specific topics or formats, like newspapers.

Pay attention to the database description to make sure you're searching the right ones for your research. Read more about individual databases before you search.

For each major, there are discipline-specific specialized databases that focus on a subject area. Use the research guides to identify the right databases for your area of study. You can also start with some of the multi-purpose databases below.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
A good place to start research on most any subject. This multi-disciplinary database indexes nearly 8,050 publications and provides full text for nearly 4,600, including more than 3,900 peer-reviewed journals. Access is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
This search engine points toward scholarly research rather than all Web-based sources. It is stronger in the sciences than in the humanities, with social sciences somewhere in between. One interesting feature of Google Scholar is that in includes a link to sources that cite a particular item. Not all of the articles in Google Scholar are free; the library can obtain many of them for you through Interlibrary loan.
MasterFILE Complete This link opens in a new window
This multidisciplinary database provides full text for more than 2,000 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1922. It covers subject areas of general interest and contains full text for more than 1,000 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an image collection of over 502,000 photos, maps & flags.. Note: To limit your search to primary source documents, select "Primary Source Document" in the "Publication Type" box. Access provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).

Finding the Actual Articles

Once you've identified articles you want to access, look to see if the full text is there. If not, follow these steps:

Click the yellow "find it!" button - this will give you three different options:
- If the article is full text in another database, follow the links to find the article.
  - The systems don't always talk to each other perfectly. If anything goes wrong, contact a librarian. We are happy to help you track it down.
- If the article is full text in print, head to the bottom floor of the library. Print journals are shelved alphabetically by title of the journal. Find your journal and then track down the article using the date/volume information.
- If an article is not available in full text or in print, request it through interlibrary loan. Follow the prompts to log in and submit a request. A lending library will send you the article - for free. Your article should arrive within a day or two.

Sometimes you come across a footnote with an article that looks interesting. Check the title of the magazine or journal (not the article title) from the journal locator to see if we have the full text. If it is not available at Gustavus, log in to your library account and fill out an interlibrary loan request. (Click on My Library Account; beneath the search box on the library's homepage.)

As you can see, tracking down the hard copies of materials can be tricky! Use the Tracking Down Materials tab for more information. Or contact a librarian directly.