Peer Assisted Learning: Hope College Sample Training Exercises: Exercise #5

Students often ask us for help locating the full texts of articles, and this is one of the more complicated questions to answer, as our journal collections exist in multiple electronic packages, as well as various print formats.  This exercise will allow you to practice locating journal articles from a citation. 

 

Instructions

 

When a student brings you a journal citation, it will look something like this and include the following information:

 

 

 

Sometimes, students will bring you a handwritten partial citation without all of the information.  You will need all of this information to find the right article, so ask the student where they found it, or use Google figure out the complete citation.

Unlike a search on a topic, a search for a citation always starts through the library tool called the Journals List.  It is the 5th tab on the main research area on the library home page.

 

Use this tool to search for the title of the Journal that the article is published in (not the article itself!). 

 

Tips: 1. this search engine is unforgiving, so make sure you don't have any typos.

         2.  If the journal title you have is abbreviated and you can't figure it out,  JABBR is a good tool to use to decipher it, or ask a librarian

 

 

The results will tell you if we have coverage of that journal, and what dates we have coverage for.  Sometimes we will have more than one electronic collection that includes this title.  Compare these to the date for the citation and select an appropriate one.  If you don't see coverage of the date you need, look for the link that says "Hope College/WTS Journal Holdings" as this might mean that we have coverage in print as well.

 

 

If it looks like we have coverage for the date that you need, select one of the electronic resources that provides it.  Once inside the resource, you will either see a browsable list of issues, from which you can browse your way to the article you need, or you may spot a search box where you can type in part of the article title to bring up the full text.  

Exceptions

1. Science Direct - This is a system where we pay per article.  A librarian needs to unlock these, so just ask.
2. Open Access - We provide links to collections of journals that are freely available online (Directory of Open Access Journals, Free Medical Journals, Freely Accessible Science Journals.) Because these systems are outside of our control, they don't always connect smoothly to our system.  It may take a little more clicking and digging to get to the full text with some of these journals, so ask a librarian if you are having trouble locating the full text.

Print

 

If you don't see electronic coverage for the title you need, look to see if there is a link for "Hope College/WTS Journal Holdings."  This shows that we may have print coverage for that article, either in print or on microform.  Clicking the link will take you into HopeCat, and you will see a screen something like this:

 

 

Again, compare the coverage dates to the date of the article you need and see if they overlap. 

1. If it is available as a bound journal, these are located in the stacks by call number, integrated in with the rest of the book collection. (Heads up!  This is changing this summer, so we'll keep you posted!)
2. If it is available on microfiche, locate the appropriate fiche in the cabinets in the basement, and instruct the student on viewing and printing them on the microfiche reader on the 1st floor.  More detailed instructions on the microform reader are available on the Desk Manual, but also have a librarian walk you through this process if you haven't seen it yet.