Serials: Journal and Magazine Articles FAQ
How do I search for articles in journals and magazines (excluding
searches on the web)?
Select a database or index to find a citations to journal articles.
For lists of subject-specific databases, check out http://lbis.kenyon.edu/subj
for annotated lists. For a list of all databases to which Kenyon has
access, see http://lbis.kenyon.edu/alldb.
Search in the database to bring up citations for articles on your topic.
Use links (find a copy) provided to find a copy of the journal;
do a journal title search in CONSORT to make sure Kenyon has access
to it. If Kenyon does not have access, you must put in a request to
Interlibrary Loan.
Can I check serials out?
No. Journals and magazines (print and microform) cannot be checked
out. You can always photocopy the article.
How do I know if a journal is available full-text electronically,
on microfilm, or in print?
CONSORT will indicate if the item is an "electronic resource,"
microform, or in print (bound periodical/science periodical).
How can I tell if the article is scholarly or popular?
|
Scholarly
|
Popular
|
| Author credentials stated. |
Not necessarily stated. |
| Footnotes, Endnotes, Citations. |
No notes or citations. |
| Peer-reviewed. |
Content does not have to be reviewed. |
| Few or no advertisements. |
More advertisements. |
| Indexed in scholarly databases/bibliographies. |
Indexed in popular indices/databases. |
| Specialized language, terminology
for a particular academic audience. |
Written for a broad audience. |
How can I figure out if the article will be relevant for my topic?
If you find you can't assess an article's relevancy, you should do
more preliminary research in books or in a few targeted journal articles
so that you at least:
- Have a set of key words and subject headings that capture your topic
- Know how to determine if the database record contains an abstract
or summary
- Know how to use subject headings to pull up similarly relevant articles
You can also ask a librarian to help you with citation indexes. If
you find authors who cite eachother frequently, chances are they share
expertise and thus may write on similar issues.
Finally, you must read the material.
Even if the content seems irrelevant at one stage, it may become
relevant in a later stage.
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