PHI2010 Library Lessons: 5: Library Databases

Hello! This video tutorial will demonstrate how to access library databases at Santa Fe College to locate articles and other subscription content.

Databases are subscription search tools that help you locate content, usually articles. Using databases to find articles has many advantages, such as more search options and full-text results.

To access library databases and read articles, click the Databases button on the library website.

This list shows all the databases that the library at Santa Fe College subscribes to. The list can be navigated several different ways. First, there is a list of Recommended Databases. These are databases that are frequently used and are good places to begin your research.

If you know the name of a database, you can find it alphabetically in the main list. Scroll through the list or use the linked letter shortcuts.

You can also limit to subject-specific databases by clicking the Filter databases by subject(s) option. Choose a relevant subject category and click Submit. This limits to databases that focus on a specific discipline or area and are more likely to contain specific, relevant articles for a topic.

Within a subject category, pay attention to the databases in the Best Bets! area. These databases are recommended by the librarians as the most useful and relevant within that category.

While most library databases mainly contain articles, some contain eBooks or multimedia such as videos or artwork. You can Filter databases by content type(s) to see other types of databases, including Audio, Visual, and Imagery and eBook Collections.

When you have chosen a database, click the title to access it. Many databases also include links to a tutorial and instructions on how to cite content within the database.

Because databases are subscription services, you may be prompted to log in with your SF ID number @sfcollege.edu and college password. You might not see this screen if you are logged into Office 365 elsewhere.

Please see specific library database tutorials for more information on how to search and locate articles and other resources within the databases.

This concludes the video tutorial on accessing library databases. If you have any questions about choosing, accessing, or using a library database, please contact a librarian.

352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library

Hello! This video tutorial will demonstrate how to find and read articles through the library database Academic Search Complete.

To access library databases, click the gray Databases button on the library website.

Academic Search Complete is the first database listed in the Library's Recommended Databases. Academic Search Complete is a good starting place to find full-text journal, magazine, and newspaper articles, with a broad range of topics. To access this database, click its title.

If prompted to log in, your username is your SF ID number @sfcollege.edu. On the next screen, enter your college password. You may not see this screen if you are already logged in to Office 365 elsewhere.

This is Academic Search Complete's advanced search screen. Use the search boxes at the top of the screen to look for articles about your topic. When searching in a database, use as few words as possible, and put different concepts in different boxes. For example, if you were researching gun control in the United States, you would put gun control in the first search box and United States in the second search box.

The main search screen also provides a few ways to limit your search. The default is to limit your search to only full text. This means limiting only to articles that can be read immediately. The Full Text box should already be checked and should stay checked for most searches. To limit your search to peer-reviewed articles, check the Peer Reviewed box. If you need to limit your results to more recent articles, you can use the Published Date limit on the search page. For instance, you may need to limit to articles that were published within the last five years. Once you have set up your search, click the Search button.

The number of search results is listed below the search boxes. The results list contains basic information about each article. The title of the article is in blue.

Icons next to each result indicate the type of source it is from. Academic Journal and Periodical are the two most common icons. Academic journal means that the article is from a scholarly journal. Periodical indicates that the article is from a magazine or trade publication.

For a quick look at more information, hover your mouse over the magnifying glass icon directly next to the article's title.

This displays a pop-up window with information about the article, including the source, which is the magazine or journal it was published in, and an abstract, which is a summary of the article. To see more information about an article, click its title to display the detailed record.

The detailed record contains subject terms that describe the content of the article. You can use these subject terms to improve your search results. To read the full article, click one of the full text links on the left. For this article, there are options for either HTML Full Text or PDF Full Text. Some articles only have one option.

The HTML Full Text is a typed-out version of the article. Some photos or graphics may be omitted. Articles in HTML full text include the option to have the article read to you. Click the Listen button.

The PDF Full Text is an exact copy of the article including the layout and any images. This option also provides page numbers, which is easier for in-text citations.

To the right of the detailed record or the full text of an article, is a Tools bar with various icons. You can print, e-mail, save, or cite this article using these icons. The Tools bar for PDF full text includes only the icons, but the functionality remains the same.

For help citing the article, click the Cite icon in the Tools bar, which looks like a gold paper. This provides generated citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, and other citation styles. You will need to double-check all citations, as there are frequently errors with capitalization and punctuation.

If you choose to e-mail this article to yourself, you can include a citation as well. Choose your citation format from the drop-down menu on the right side.

If you would like a direct link to this article, you will need to click the Permalink option in the Tools bar. You cannot copy and paste the URL from the browser bar, as it will not work in the future.

This concludes the video tutorial on using Academic Search Complete. If you have any questions, please contact a librarian:

352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library

Hello! This video tutorial will demonstrate how to find and access articles through the library database JSTOR.

To access library databases, click the gray Databases button on the library website.

JSTOR is listed in the Library's Recommended Databases list. JSTOR is a core database for many disciplines, including humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. It also includes many historical articles, dating to the 1800s. To access this database, click its title.

If prompted to log in, your username is your SF ID number @sfcollege.edu. On the next screen, enter your college password. You may not see this screen if you are already logged in to Office 365 elsewhere.

This is the advanced search screen for JSTOR. Unlike other databases, JSTOR does not use subject headings or controlled vocabulary. Therefore, you will need to be as precise as possible in your search terms. Use quotation marks to keep phrases together and include alternate keywords with the term OR. Place different concepts in separate search boxes.

Let's say you were looking for articles about the ethics of euthanasia. Another term for euthanasia is assisted suicide. Since these are synonyms, both terms can be placed in the first search box with the word OR between. Assisted suicide can be placed in quotation marks to keep the phrase together. In the second search box, I typed ethic*. This tells the database to search all words that start with ethic, which includes ethics and ethical.

euthanasia OR "assisted suicide"
AND ethic*

JSTOR is mostly peer-reviewed journals, so there is no limit for scholarly articles. However, there are several different types of formats included, such as books and reviews, so you may wish to limit to Articles. You may also need to limit the language to English.

JSTOR also allows you to limit your search to results found in journals of different disciplines. Scroll down to see the Journal Filters. Be sure to carefully examine all listed disciplines, as many topics may fit in several categories. For a search about the ethics of euthanasia, two good disciplines to check would be Health Sciences and Philosophy. Keep in mind, however, that many topics are multidisciplinary, so you might be missing out on good results from other types of journals.

On the results page, the article titles are in a large font, followed by the authors and journal information. Click the title to view the article.

The article record contains an embedded version of the article, which can be navigated with the embedded arrows.

JSTOR will tell you how many times your search terms appear in the article, along with the page numbers.

To cite this article, click the Cite button. JSTOR provides citations in MLA, Chicago Notes and Bibliography, and APA styles. Be aware that the generated citations may not be correct.

Click the Download button to open the article in PDF format, which may be easier to read.

Because JSTOR does not have a direct way to email an article for later use, you should instead copy the Remote Access URL. This URL will route you through the Office 365 log in system and take you back to the full text of the article. Please note that the Stable URL option will not work off-campus.

If your search results do not seem relevant enough, you may want to consider limiting your search terms to Item Title. This may help find more targeted articles but may also eliminate many relevant articles that do not use your search terms in the title of the article or journal.

All search results will now include your search terms in the title of the article or journal. This also significantly reduced the number of results. Use the Item Title option carefully, to avoid narrowing your search too much.

This concludes the video tutorial on using JSTOR. If you have any questions, please contact a librarian:

352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library