Research Process: More Help Finding Articles

Today, discussion on the Research Process continues.  In our previous post, we talked about the different types of periodicals available; the ways in which the articles they contain are geared toward different audiences; and how this target marketing can influence the information you choose to support your research.   Now, we’ll look at the actual process of “Finding Articles” –searching and accessing these sources using online periodical indexes offered through the OhioLINK Research Databases.

Our participation in the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) allows Davis Library to offer students, faculty and staff at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College access to hundreds of electronic research databases.  Many of these resources index (list) citation (author, title, publisher, date, etc…) and other descriptive information on various periodical articles.  Links to the full-text for the actual items may also be provided when available.

To get to these resources from the Davis Library Home Page, which is found at www.rio.edu/library, use the “OhioLINK Research Databases” link under the “Find Articles” heading.  From the OhioLINK Databases page, you’ll be able to see all databases “Listed by Subject,” “Listed by Type” or “Listed by Name.”

When trying to determine which database to search, consider the subject of your topic... 

• If you’re doing research on how job-related stress can lead to burnout for nurses, then you may want to look for articles in databases such as the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) or Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, which are both found through the “Listed by Subject” link under the “Nursing” link;   

• Then, if you’re exploring how social media is impacting various broadcast industries, you might want to utilize databases such as Communication & Mass Media Complete or Film & Television Literature Index, which you’ll also find through the also find “Listed by Subject” link but under the “Communications” link this time; and  

• Another example would be using the various databases listed under either the “Education” or “Psychology” links, which can be found too through the “Listed by Subject” link, to search for articles to support your research on the different aspects of working with special needs children.

One particular database that we often recommend as a starting point for most students enrolled in our beginning composition classes is Academic Search Complete.  The easiest way to find this resource from the OhioLINK Databases page is to click on the “A” link offered just below where it says “Listed by Name.”  It should be the first item in the alphabetical listing of available resources.

Academic Search Complete is designed specifically for academic institutions and covers a broad spectrum of literature from multiple disciplines.  Immediate access to thousands of full-text periodical articles as well as other sorts of documents is provided through this comprehensive online resources.

For step-by-step directions on how to best utilize this valuable research tool, see video tutorial below.

(Please note:  Some of the information on in the video tutorial above may be a little dated, however, the search process demonstrated is essentially the same as what you'd use now.  Davis Library now utilizes LibGuides by Springshare for all of its Research Guides, which may be accessed at:  libguides.rio.edu)

Remember the OhioLINK Research Databases have restricted access, so login is required when working with these resources from off-campus.  For more details on this authentication process, watch the video below. 

Now, if you’re unable to find the article(s) you want full-text via OhioLINK or in print or microform format through the Davis Library’s Periodical Collection, then you may want to give our traditional Interlibrary Loan services a try.   

Complete our online ILL Article Request Form, which you'll find at:  

http://www.rio.edu/library/Interlibrary-Loan-ARTICLE-Request-Form.cfm

Be sure to include your contact information along with all of the article’s citation details.  That's the work's author, title, publisher, date, etc…  If the item is available, we’ll let you know in about week to ten days of submitting your request.

Need more help finding articles?  Check back with us here soon as our series of posts on the Research Process continue.  Then, as always, please feel free to… “Ask Us!”

Research Process: Finding Articles

In the last installment in our series of blog posts on the Research Process we discussed how the timeliness of articles and other resources not only influence your information searches, but also how issues such publication dates can impact decisions made on a work’s relevancy to your research needs.  In today’s post, we’ll explore how an article’s intended audiences can be a factor as well.

Many of the articles for which you’ll be searching to support your research assignments are found in periodicals.  Periodicals are publications printed and distributed in regular intervals. 

Some periodicals designed for mass appeal and large public audiences with which you might already be familiar are newspapers and magazines.  Articles in these publications are written to be easily read. Authors of such articles are usually journalist who may not even be credited for their work.

Examples of Newspapers and Magazines (print/paper format) from Davis Library's Periodical Collection

Scholarly publications (also known as journals) may be fairly new to undergraduate students.   These items are often geared to specific parties within the academic or scientific community.  Students, faculty or professionals working in particular fields of study use these types of works to share their ideas and research findings.   Most journal articles are lengthy, have gone through an extensive peer-review process and contain reference lists so that author’s research may be explored further.  Such journals may also contain book reviews and brief editorials relevant to a specific area of interest.

Examples of Scholarly Publications/Journals (print/paper format) from Davis Library's Periodical Collection

Trade publications are also periodicals geared toward those working in certain fields of study or industries.  Unlike the in-depth research-oriented articles typically found in scholarly publications, the writings included in these resources tend to focus on news, best practices and current trends related to a specified profession or discipline.  While these articles may discuss research conducted in a particular field of study, most often they’ll only present brief reports or overviews of the different investigations made.

Examples of Trade Publications (print/paper format) from Davis Library's Periodical Collection

For a brief, but thorough comparison of these various article sources, watch the video below created by the Peabody Library at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Your thesis as well as the size and scope of research project’s goals will influence what types of articles you look for and select to support your assignment.  For example, you may be interested in how women’s magazines have covered topics certain health issues over the years.  So, your search might involve finding articles from popular titles like Redbook and Good Housekeeping.  In another instance, your instructor may be requiring you to consult only articles from peer-reviewed journals for your project.   Then, sometimes if the jargon and terminology used in journal article presents a problem, looking to some trade publications in the same field of study may prove helpful.

Assessing an article’s intended audience and its relevance to your research needs are all part of the process of evaluating information, which should be ongoing as you search for and gather your sources. 

In our next “Finding Articles” post, we’ll show you how to locate and access the different types of articles we’ve discussed here.  In the meantime, if you do have questions, please…  “Ask Us!”