Finding Information: Journals
Books often do not contain the most recent information. If you are researching a current topic, magazine or journal articles are a good source of information. Articles can be found in indexes which may be in paper or electronic format. An electronic databases is a tool used for finding information on recent topics. We will be looking at two such databases, Infotrac Onefile and Newsbank.
Click HERE for a complete list of the The Capital Community College Library Databases and their descriptions. Scroll down and look at Infotrac Onefile and Newsbank specifically. Remember to click on the X in the upper right hand corner of the screen to return to the tutorial.
All databases, both electronic and paper, have a specific focus and a specific range of years which they cover. You must be aware of a database’s focus in order to search for a topic effectively.
Some suggestions on contemporary issues in America appropriate for searching electronic databases are:
Television violence
Censorship
Global warming
Free trade
Practice Exercise
At this point in we are going to practice looking for a journal article using the online database Infotrac Onefile.
- Click on "Information Databases" and scroll to and click on "Infotrac Onefile via the Connecticut Digital Library" near the middle of the page.
- Do a practice search. Type in a topic of your choice.
- Click on Search.
- Select an article and click on "text and retrieval choices" to view the full text of the article.
- Write down the title of the article, the source (magazine name), and author of the article.
- Click on the X in the upper right hand corner of the screen to return to the tutorial.
Click Information Databases to begin.
You can use the frame at left to go to any chapter you wish to explore next. The next chapter in order, however, is Chapter Three -- Finding Information -- Newspapers.