How to find journal articles

So you've been given the assignment, and you have to include journal articles in it.

You know the journals are kept in the Journal Section on the first floor of the Library - but there are thousands of journals there - how do you decide which ones to use?

You could just look through a useful looking journal - but this could take hours of valuable time and you may not find what you are looking for.

The following page contains ways of finding out about the journals we have, and how you find out what articles are in them.

• Is there a list of the journals held by the Library?
• Aren't all journals upstairs in the Library?
• How do you find out what articles are in a journal without having to look at the index in each issue?
• What is a bibliographic database?
• I have found an article title I think will be useful - what next?
• What information do I need from the database to locate the article?
• What is the difference between print and electronic?
• I have found the journal title on the Electronic Journals page - what now?
• The article I want is not available electronically
• Can I borrow a journal?
• I have found two articles in the same issue - is this ok?
• I want an article that is not in the Library or electronically - can I still get it?

Is there list of the journals held by the Library?

Yes - there is a list of journals held by the Library. The list gives the titles of the journals held, where they are located, and what stock we hold.

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Are all journals upstairs in the Library?

No - some of the old stock is kept in the store, on microfilm or in the Committee Room. If any of the journals you want have any of these locations, you need to speak to a member of staff.

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How do you find out what articles are in a journal without having to look at the index in each issue?

To reduce the amount of time spent looking for articles, you can use a bibilographic database.

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What is a bibliographic database?

A Bibilographic Database looks like a search engine, but it searches for journal articles that have been included in it (indexed). Some databases also search for conference proceedings and company reports.

There are different databases for different subject areas.

The main ones used are:

• ABI - business
• Cab Abstracts - agriculture
• Compendex - engineering
• Foodline Web - food and marketing
• Land, Life and Leisure - agriculture and land sciences
• Web of Knowledge - science, social science and arts and humanities

Database results contain details of the:

• Article title
• Author
• Journal title
• Sometimes an abstract of the article
• Sometimes the full text of an article
• Sometimes whether the article is from a peer reviewed (serious, academic or scholarly) or non-peer reviewed (popular) journal

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What information do I need from the database to locate the article?

The important part of the database record is the source or publication title, volume number, issue number and page numbers. Without this information you can not locate the article.

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I have found an article title I think will be useful - what next?

When you have found an useful article, you need to find out if the Library has access to the full text either in print or electronically.

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What is the difference between print and electronic?

Some journals only come in print format. These can look like books, but they are a collection of a years printed journal issues. Some look like magazines.

Some journals are published on-line as well as in print. Where we have access to an electronic version (e-journal), a link is available on the Electronic Journals web page. If there is an electronic copy, this will be the full text of the article.

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I have found the journal title on the Electronic Journals page - what now?

Look at the table to see if the year the article is from is available. This information is in the 'holdings' column.

If it is available:

• click on the blue link to go to the journal homepage
• Navigate to the relevant volume, issue and page number
• Click on the 'full text' link
• Either read the article online, or print it out.

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The article I want is not available electronically

If the article is not available electronically, see if we have it in print. For this you need to check the OPAC.

From the search screen:

• type in the journal title (source details from the bibliographic search)
• press enter
• if the journal is held, details will be shown on the screen.
• To see if the relevant volume and issue are held, click on the 'show holdings' link
• If the relevant volume and issue are held, retrieve from the journals section on the first floor

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Can I borrow a journal?

No - all journals are for reference only. You can read the article in the Library, or you can photocopy an article to take home.

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I have found two articles in the same issue - is this ok?

You can only photocopy one article from any one issue but you can read the second article.

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I want an article that is not in the Library or electronically - can I still get it?

If you are a final year or post-graduate student, you may be able to obtain an article via Inter-Library Loan.

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