To locate articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers, you can use one of the UCF Libraries' many databases.

VIDEO VERSION:

To learn about searching the Library Databases, we recommend watching the following short VIDEO with SOUND narration.  (If you are in the Rosen Library, headphones are available for checkout at the front desk.) 

Or, if you prefer, or are unable to watch the video with sound, you can read through the TEXT version below instead.
 

TEXT VERSION:

To find databases that are typically most useful for general research, start at the Rosen Library homepage and then click on the databases tab:
 

1  Search by subject to find databases grouped by area of study.

2  Search by database name. For this example we'll find the interdisciplinary database Academic Search Premier by using the A-Z search option.

The following databases are often useful for general research:

• Academic Search Premier: Covers an array of scholarly research and popular topics, with full text often dating back to 1990 for over 1,000 journals.
• Academic OneFile: Covers physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.
• CQ Researcher: Includes research reports on various "hot" issues ranging from social and teen issues to environment, health, education, science and technology.
• LexisNexis Academic: Full text of news and legal sources, as well as company and industry data.

Note: If you are accessing library databases off-campus, you will be prompted to log in using your library number, which is located on the bottom of your UCF ID card. Our Off-Campus Access page has some additional instructions and suggestions if you have any difficulty in logging in from off-campus.
 

Searching for articles on the effectiveness of online learning

Advanced Search Tips:

• Wildcard: In most databases, an asterisk (*) will allow you to search for variations of a word. Place the asterisk where you want the variation to begin. For example, learn* will search for learn, learned, learner, learning, etc.
  


• Boolean search operators: Use these connecting words to link your keywords, as follows:
  
  
  • AND narrows your search by requiring all terms connected with an AND to be in the article. For example, distance AND online will only return results that mention both terms.
  
  
  • OR broadens your search by returning results that mention either keyword. For example, distance OR online will return results that mention either term.
   
  
  • NOT narrows your search by specifying that a term not be present. For example, distance NOT online will return results that mention distance and do not mention online.
  
  
• Grouping similar concepts: Connect synonyms on the same line with the word ‘OR’

 

• Phrases: To find an exact phrase, use "quotation marks." For example, you may want to look for articles about "online learning" (as a phrase), not just articles that mention both words somewhere in the text.
   

Refining Your Results

You may refine your search to get more precise results. Most databases allow you to refine your results by "scholarly (peer reviewed)," "publication date," "full text," and many other advanced options. Limiting your results to only "full text" articles is usually not recommended, as this will eliminate many potentially helpful articles that may be available in other databases, in the library's print collection, or through Interlibrary Loan. For this example, we will refine our search by applying the options "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)" and the "Publication Date" of 2009-2011.

Useful information may be found in both "trade" and "peer reviewed" publications, but each type has different purposes and uses. Your professor may require you to use certain types depending on the assignment. See the Scholarly, Trade, or Popular? guide for more information.

After your initial search, you can refine your result by applying some of the options discussed above. If you need assistance refining your results with advanced search options, ask a librarian for help.

The results of a search in a database will provide you with vital information for each item:

1 Refine your results: Choose options to limit your results. "Show More" provides further refining options.

2 Citation: Displays the title, author, date, etc. Click on the hyperlink to go to the full record for the item.

3 Full text link: Click here to read the full text of the article.

4 Get Full Text Link: Click here to see other options for retrieving the text of the article, as follows:

• If this article is available in one or more databases, links to the database(s) will be listed under "Options for Getting the Text."


• If this article is not available in another database, a link to the UCF catalog will provided so you can see if a print version is available.


• If the article text is not available in another database, nor in print form in the library, you may request a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan. For further help with Interlibrary Loan, please see the Interlibrary Loan Rosen Research Guide, or Ask a Rosen Librarian.

You can use also databases to find articles from citations, whether they are assigned course readings or citations you found while doing research. To find detailed instructions for doing so, please see the research guide Finding Full Text from Citations.

You may wish to practice searching in the Academic Search Premier database or in one of the general research databases before continuing the tutorial. For more help using the databases, please Ask a Rosen Librarian.