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Moody Library and Student Athletes: Finding Journal Articles

A library research guide geared to student athletes. Includes travel tips for study plus much more.

Basic Steps

There are several ways to find journal articles in Moody Library.

 

1. General Browsing

a. Use the Finding Articles with Databases tab via the library's home page. Select the subject of interest. The most useful databases are at the top   of the page followed by general databases. Those like ProQuest and Academic Search Complete tend to cover a wide-range of topics.

b. Many of the library's LibGuides have a database tab listing specific databases useful to that given subject.

c. Google Scholar - This allows you to search a wide range of scholarly publications. Moody Library has connections to Google Scholar. You need to click the "Scholar Preferences" link (beside the search box) to set it up from from on and off-campus. Look for the "Find Library" box and type Houston Baptist University. Click any boxes for HCU that are not already checked and save your preferences. At this point, any results displaying "LinkSource@HCU" provides a connection into our databases. Accessibility will vary with Google Scholar (price, restricted, etc., will sometimes occur). See more below regarding LinkSource.

2. Specific search

a. Many of the LibGuides have journal tabs including links to specific journals specific to the discipline. In many cases, those pages will have an option to search for articles only in that specific journal rather than a database. That could significantly reduce the number results but keep in mind that in some cases that there is a much smaller set of articles to search as you are only searching one journal.

b. E-Journals AtoZ List - This link is available from the library home page. The AtoZ list is a listing of all electronic journals available to the library regardless of the publisher or database vendor. If you have a specific journal title you are for which you are searching, then use this option. Type the specific journal title in the search box. Remember, this searches journal titles not articles.

   In addition, you can also search for journal for which you remember a portion of the title. You can type single words or short phrases.

OTHER JOURNAL FORMATS

Yes, the library still carries some journals in other formats. These include microfiche and print. If you can't find a journal of interest, please consult the library's Periodical Holdings listing. These spiral-bound lists are scattered throughout the library. The current print collection of journals and microfiche is located in the Media Room located behind the reference desk. Older journals are located at the top of stairway (by the main entrance).

 

CONSIDERATIONS

  1. Just because a title is on the AtoZ list does not necessarily mean it is available in full-text. Publishers have the right to give full database access to the vendors they choose. They may choose to only allow you to search the citations only.

  2. You may see the word "embargo." That means the full-text will not be available for the time specified. That timeframe will vary by publisher and could be anywhere from three months to two years.

  3. LinkSource

    If you see a citation that you like but discover that full-text is not available, many of our databases have a LinkSource option. LinkSoruce searches our entire electronic collection to see what is available. It could be available via another databases, for instance. If so, LinkSource will take you as close to the article as it can. If LinkSource shows no full-text, you can still double-check the library catalog and the AtoZ list. Remember, we may still carry some journals in microfiche or print and the catalog would pick those up.

    If you still can't get access to full-text, LinkSource does include an InterLibrary Loan. The citation will be automatically filled in and you just add your contact information.

  4. If you still can't find full-text for a known citation, you can search other library catalogs. Rice, UH, and TMC have larger periodical collections (including print). Also, you can fill out an HCU InterLibrary Form.

 

For more information about how to build a search, go to the Research Skills tab above and select Working with Databases.