Find articles on almost every topic through the library's databases. 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 source types, like newspapers or ebooks.
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 them.
For each major, there are recommended discipline-specific databases. 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.
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).
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.
Once you've identified articles you want to access within a library database, look to see if the full text is there. If not, follow these steps:
Look for an option to view the full text. Individual databases will display this differently, but look for anything that invites you to access the full text. You might see an option to "Find It at Gustavus." Clicking the access option will give you three different options:
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. We are here to help you access whatever materials you need.
Articles
While articles are a little easier to skim than books, thanks to their shorter length, some scholarly articles can be dense. Fortunately, there are built-in features within articles to help you comprehend their main arguments.
Nonscholarly articles, including newspaper and magazine articles are usually easier to comprehend quickly, as they are written for a general audience and do not usually assume that readers have a lot of background knowledge on a topic. Look for these features:
Scholarly articles are written by experts in a field for other experts (and students). Use these features and techniques to explore their main points:
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