J. Eugene Smith Library

RESEARCH DATABASES - GETTING STARTED

J. Eugene Smith Library subscribes to over 100 databases for students, faculty, and staff. These databases each contain a unique collection of relevant and reliable articles and materials to help with research needs. Choose a database from our Department/Subject database listing or our Databases A – Z (a full list of all databases at ECSU). Notice "About" on the databases A - Z listing for detailed information about each database.

Note: You will need to create a Library PIN to access our databases off-campus. Please see Access Databases Off-Campus for instructions.

If you are having trouble establishing your Library PIN, come to or call the Circulation/Reserve Desk at 465-4465 for help. If you are having trouble using a Library Database, come to or call the Reference Desk at 465-4699.

The following introduction to using the library’s research databases is just a first step. The librarians at the Reference Desk (2nd floor), the Curriculum Center (1st floor) and the Archives/Special Collections (4th floor) are ready to provide in-depth, expert assistance with all aspects of research at Smith Library. Walk up or call - we’re there to help you.

Example of a Database Search to Answer a Research Question

Does violence in the media really affect teenagers?

After obtaining background information on your subject, decide which database(s) hold articles that are relevant to your needs. Select a subject area from the databases by subject or look at the A - Z list of databases. Read "About" to find out what each database holds and the dates of coverage.

One popular general database with many full-text articles is “Academic Search Premier.”

Type in relevant keywords (See below). The database will pull up records/articles that contain all of the keywords entered. Begin with only a couple of keywords and then narrow by adding more keywords as needed. Also try other words that mean the same. For instance, try the word adolescent in place of teen. The database will be looking for the specific term(s) that you type in the search box within various parts of the article. Click "Search" to begin.

There is an option to refine the search to only include "Full Text" or "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)" Journals. (See red arrows above)

Academic Search Premier now defaults to "Find all my search terms" in a basic search . This means you do not need to put an "AND" between each search term. The database will do this automatically.

Each database has its own searching strategies.

Boolean operators are used in many databases to help focus a search.

(Please refer to the bottom of this page for information about using Boolean operators, AND, OR, & NOT in Academic Search Premier if you would like to learn more)

The screen capture below displays the results of the above search (teens violence television). Results are automatically sorted by most relevant to the search terms that are entered. This can be changed to sort by date so that the most recent are at the top of the list, if desired. Also note another opportunity to choose Scholarly (Peer Reviewed), Full text, or sort by date to the left of the screeen.

To view a summary of an article simply mouse over the magnifying glass at the end of the article title or click on the title. Full text may be available by PDF Full Text, HTML Full Text, or Check Article Linker for more information. PDF is preferred because it is an actual image of the article but HTML is also good. Choose the "Article Linker" to help you link to the full text if you do not see PDF or HTML.

There are several options for saving the article(s) – print, email to yourself to print later, or save to your z:// drive, floppy diskette, or a USB device like a “thumb drive." You can also "Add to folder" which will start a collection of selected results. This is only available during the session while logged on. Once logging off from the database, the folder selections will be erased. To save articles in a database folder for future reference, many databases have an option to sign in with your own user name and password.

Important

Be sure to note all of the information needed to cite your article(s) and other materials.

Title, Author, Source (Journal Name, Issue, Volume, Date, Pages) and also make note of the database that was used, Academic Search Premier in this case.

For help with citation styles (MLA, APA, ASA, Chicago Manual, Harvard) and Citing Electronic Sources, please see: Citing Your Sources and Citation Guides

For help with avoiding plagiarism and giving credit to the sources that are used please see:

Plagiarism Resources: A Guide for ECSU Students and Faculty

If you are having trouble using a Library Database, come to or call the Reference Desk at 465-4699 for help. If you are having trouble establishing your Library PIN, come to or call the Circulation/Reserve Desk at 465-4465.

Using Boolean Operators

(Taken from Academic Search Premier Help)

Boolean logic defines logical relationships between terms in a search. The Boolean search operators are and, or and not. You can use these operators to create a very broad or very narrow search.

And combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms. For example, travel and Europe finds articles that contain both travel and Europe.

Or combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms. For example, college or university finds results that contain either college or university.

Not excludes terms so that each search result does not contain any of the terms that follow it. For example, television not cable finds results that contain television but not cable.

Note: When executing a search, And takes precedence over Or.

The following table illustrates the operation of Boolean terms:

And

Or

Not

Each result contains all search terms. Each result contains at least one search term. Results do not contain the specified terms.

The search heart and lung finds items that contain both heart and lung. The search heart or lung finds items that contain either heart or items that contain lung. The search heart not lung finds items that contain heart but do not contain lung.

Using Booleans and Parentheses

To make even better use of Boolean operators, you can use parentheses to nest query terms within other query terms.

You can enclose search terms and their operators in parentheses to specify the order in which they are interpreted. Information within parentheses is read first, then information outside parentheses is read next. For example,

When you enter (mouse OR rat) AND trap, the search engine retrieves results containing the word mouse or the word rat together with the word trap in the fields searched by default.

If there are nested parentheses, the search engine processes the innermost parenthetical expression first, then the next, and so on until the entire query has been interpreted. For example, ((mouse OR rat) AND trap) OR mousetrap

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And	Or	Not
Each result contains all search terms.	Each result contains at least one search term.	Results do not contain the specified terms.
The search heart and lung finds items that contain both heart and lung.	The search heart or lung finds items that contain either heart or items that contain lung.	The search heart not lung finds items that contain heart but do not contain lung.