How To Find the Online Fulltext Version of Articles in Magazines and Journals

At Hunter Library


This is a trip into the "deep" web, the portion not indexed by standard search engines, a trip to a special database that contains articles for which the library has paid the access fee. You need to read the above article by Parmenter and Burns. The paper version is located at the university library in Boone about three hours away and I can get you driving directions if you would like (but it could be checked out) [humor intended here]. However, as luck would have it, the fulltext version is online and available through a search of Hunter Library. Since it is extremely important in the twenty-first century to know how to find journals online, and to find out which ones provide the full-text of their articles, and to be able to retrieve and read those articles, this activity will teach the necessary steps for working with our Hunter Library system. Though these directions are specific to WCU's system, it should be recognized that many companies offer such services on a routine commercial basis.

As we are studying databases in this chapter, it should be noted that the process of developing this assignment about GIS databases involved using three different databases. The existence of the assigned article was found by searching the ERIC database of educational literature for the string GIS. The availability of the journal was determined by searching a second database. The reading of the article involves finding its storage location and then being retrieved from a third database. At WCU, the process of students retrieving the article involves the latter two steps, searching two different databases. The first step of retrieval involves searching a database for the name of the journal and determining whether the fulltext version is available. The second step involves searching the article database for the actual article.

If on the university campus, the user simply proceeds with the search. If the user is off-campus, the proxy server data must be entered into the Preferences part of the browser. The Hunter Library  site has web directions for setting up the proxy information in off-campus computers. It is not necessary to do this from an on-campus computer. However, AOL users will not be able to setup the proxy with the version of Netscape which comes from from AOL. Instead, download another version of Netscape such as version 4.5 or version 4.7 ( Win 95/98 | Mac OS ). Use the AOL version to connect your Windows computer to the Internet, and then minimize it. Next, start up the second browser and follow the Hunter Library directions for setting up the proxy information. Once this is set up, it will ask you for your university ID and password. Once properly entered, you will then be able to get access to InfoTrac and proceed with the second step. If there are problems with this off-campus proxy server setup, call the Hunter Library Reference desk at 227-7274 and ask the librarian for assistance.

Step One - Find the Journal by Searching Hunter Library's Catalog Database

In the first step, the user must search the electronic catalog of the library for periodical titles, which is a database. If the library has full-text versions of the articles available, it will appear in the search of the catalog. So, click to www.wcu.edu/library/ and search by periodical title. This step determines if the library has an electronic subscription to the journal or magazine. Enter this text, Learning & Leading with Technology, to search for this journal. When it appears on the screen as a link, Learning And Leading With Technology,  click on it to be taken to other pages. Look for text which mentions Electronic Version or Electronic resource. Click either of these links when they appear.
Full text available: 2000 -. Available in General Reference Center Gold.
Full text available: 2000 -. Available in InfoTrac: OneFile.

 

Step Two  Find the Article by Searching a Commercial Vendor's Article Database

From this next page choose the year 2001 and from the choices that appear for that year, choose April 2001; Vol. 28, Issue 7.

Be patient here as it can take many seconds or a couple of minutes for the vendor's screen to appear. (Later, return to this activity and search for other journals that you like to use to see if they are available as well.)

Look for the title of the article, GIS in the Classroom, and press the OK or the search button. Again, be patient as it may take a minute or so before the InfoTrac database  responds with the full text of the article. Scroll the page to read to the end of the article. Take notes and print out the article for future reference.

Infotrac is just one of many databases made available through Hunter Library and/or NCLive which contain the full-text of articles. The ERIC database of the educational literature is another. Consult with your reference librarian about how to find other publications that may be of use. Note that some of these databases contain some records or citations in the database which only report the citation while other records in the same database also link to the full article.

Be aggressive in seeking out other opportunities in other courses to practice this procedure in finding and reading relevant journal articles. For this skill to remain useful, it must be practiced to remember the steps without referring back to this web page.
 


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