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Database Guides
What is an article database?
A database is a collection of articles built to allow easy retrieval via searches using keyword, author, subject, etc. Databases are often proprietary; the library subscribes to them and they are accessible only to valid users (students, faculty, etc.) Access is granted with a password, which for Saint Mary's students, faculty, and staff, is their username and password (the same used for Web Tools and Blackboard). Some databases are available to everyone (i.e. ERIC), and a password is not required.
What are my access options?
One can access the databases on-campus by logging onto any computer. A password is not necessary on-campus. The databases are also accessible off-campus to anyone with an internet connection and username and barcode described in the above question. Click off-campus access for instructions.
What does “full text” mean?
Full text means that the entire body of the article is available, not just the citation or abstract. There are often two choices by which to view full text articles: first, "full text" or "full text with graphics"; and, second, "PDF". The former is a text version and the latter is a scanned version—much like a photocopy.
How do databases differ from each other?
Databases differ mainly by their content. For example, ProQuest’s subject-strength is psychology and education. EBSCO’s subject-strength is business and management. Even so, there is considerable overlap between the two databases and both, as well as others, should be utilized. Click here to see a description of each of the Saint Mary's databases.
Are databases different than the internet?
A database is not the internet. While you may have access to the database via the internet, one cannot “Google” the articles inside ProQuest or EBSCO or other proprietary databases.
Are there some universal usage tips?
While databases have interfaces that differ, they basically work the same. You can enter multiple search terms, limit searches to full-text or scholarly articles, and print or email the items they find useful.
What is the "full-text only" limiter?
Many of the databases have both full-text of articles and abstracts of articles. By limiting your results to only those with full-text, you're telling the database to list only those articles that match your search term and can be read immediately. Then when you click on the title of an article you should be given the option of viewing the article in text and/or pdf versions.
What is the "scholarly" or "peer-reviewed" limiter?
By check-marking this box, you are telling the computer to give you only the articles that match your search terms AND were published in a peer-reviewed journal. You would be excluding articles from newspapers and magazines.
What is a peer-reviewed journal?
A peer-reviewed journal is one where the articles published within have gone through a review process before they were included. The process works essentially like this: The author of a study or lengthy and in-depth article sends the article to the editor of the journal who then makes copies and sends them to a few peers (other experts on the article's topic) of the author. They read the article, offer their critiques and send them back to the editor. The editor then decides whether to have the author make changes based on the this feedback. If changes are necessary and made to the satisfaction of the editor, the article is published. This process can take some time, which is why peer-reviewed journals are often published on a quarterly basis.
For magazines, the process is much less stringent. The same author that submitted an article to a journal as just described, might submit a shorter, less technical version to a popular or trade magazine. In this case, the editor does not make copies for peers to critique or, if so, it is a much more informal request. This process is less stringent (depending on the editor, of course) and much quicker. That is why magazines are published on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis.
Newspapers, which are published on a daily basis have even less time for the kind of peer-review that goes on for the above two types of publications. Newpaper editors often have to make split-second decisions on what goes into each issue.
When instructors require peer-reviewed, journal articles for research assignments it is not because magazine or newspaper articles are not valuable. Rather, it is because journal articles are the result of more thorough research and reviewing processes. They also tend to identify the building blocks (i.e., references) they used so that others (you!) might use them as they construct their new, and original, work (research article). Newpaper and magazine articles can often supply clues to what peer-reviewed studies and articles are available.
What is a catalog?
A catalog is a database of books located in a library. Every library has a catalog and some groups of libraries collaborate to make their catalogs searchable simultaneously. Saint Mary's University is part of the MnPALS consortium of library catalogs. This means you can search for books located only at the Twin Cities campus library or the Winona library—or both at the same time—or both as well as the 45 or so other libraries that are a part of MnPALS. This gives you a larger pool of books for your search terms to “fish” in.
How do I use MnPALS?
- Select a library or libraries’ catalog (drop-down menu at upper left)
- Basic v. Advanced Search (to the right of the library catalog menu)
- Select search type (drop-down menu to left of search box)
- Type in keyword (click here for keyword tips)
- Checking availability (“location/available” link at top of record)
- Putting a “hold” on books (if book is checked-out and you can wait for due date)
How do catalogs differ from each other?
Mostly just by their interface. Ultimately, they are all telling you what books are in what libraries and upon which shelves. Some catalogs are “catalogs of catalogs”. MnLINK, for example, allows you to search all the books in Minnesota through one interface. WorldCAT does the same thing but includes all the libraries in the United States, and some international libraries as well.
Can I order a book from other libraries if Saint Mary’s doesn’t own it?
Yes. Regardless of the library, if you give us the information for the book (author, title, year) we can get the book for you via interlibrary loan. There are several ways to do this:
- In MnLINK, once you have located a particular item, you can click the “get it” icon, type your barcode (i.e., “2350000…”) in the “Library Barcode/User ID” box, type your last name in the “PIN/Password” box, leave the drop-down menu at “my library” and click “submit”. A new screen will pop-up with all the item’s information filled in. Change the drop-down menu next to "Pickup Location" to "Managed by PALS". Then click “submit” again and the next screen should read “Your request has been accepted.”
- Send us an email (tc-library@smumn.edu) with all the information needed for us to locate the exact book you want. This includes: author name, title, year of publication, publisher’s name, and the edition number if pertinent.
Is the Full Text Journal List an article database?
No. It is an intermediary between databases. You only use the Full Text Journal List when you are trying to find a specific article from a specific journal or magazine. This tool will help tell you if the journal from which your article comes has any of its articles available full text in any of our databases.
What do I put in the “find” box?
The title of the journal or magazine. NOT the title of the article. This tool only identifies which journals or magazines make their articles available full text in one or more of our databases.
How does it select its hits?
The hits are those journal or magazine titles with that contain the words you typed in the “find” box. If, for example, you type “Journal of Education”, you will get around 123 hits because that’s how many titles in our databases contain all three of those words AND make at least some of their articles available full text.
What does “No Titles where title contains ‘xxxxx’” mean?
This means that none of our databases have full-text articles from the journal whose name you have typed. You would then request the article from us.
What are the hyperlinks under the journal title?
The hyperlinks are the names of the database (or sub-database) within which there are articles full text for the journal whose name you have typed. Clicking on the link will take you to that database.
What are the date-ranges beside the hyperlinks?
The date-ranges indicate the time-frame of article availability in that particular database. For example, a date-range of “1996-present (12 month emargo)” means that articles are available full text for the journal from 1996 to the present minus one year.
Last revised: July 17, 2008
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