Journal Articles

List of Articles

Help! I’ve got a list of articles I need to read . . . what do I do next?

If you have a citation like the one below from the bibliography at the back of a book, or the end of an article, course notes, etc. follow these steps:

First, confirm that it is a citation to an article by making sure it includes:

• Article Title: Speaking as scientists: computer professionals in the star wars debate.
• Journal Title: History and Technology
• Volume: 99
• Issue: 4
• Page: 335-

If your citation has an abbreviated journal title (e.g., Bull at Sci, J. Appl. Econom), cut and paste the title into Google or consult the Science & Engineering Journal Abbreviations list to discover the complete journal title.

1. Cut and paste the article title and the complete journal title into the Find Articles, eBooks, Theses & more in Summon search box on the UBC Library homepage Tip: Don't paste in volume and issue and page numbers.

2. Look at the result list and click on the yellow "Online" icon beside your article. You'll see a screen like the one below

3. Click on the Article link to connect to full text

4. Where no full text is available, click on "Search UBC Library Catalogue" to find items in print at UBC Library.

On a Topic

I need to find articles for my assignment and I don’t know where to start!

Choose one of these two types of searches.

Fast, easy: Summon Search
Follow the instructions or watch a video

1. In the Find Articles, eBooks, Theses & more in Summon search box on the UBC Library homepage, enter your search terms. For example, cooking and culture.
2. When results display, use the menu on the left of the screen to "Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer-review" Too many results? Add a search term, for example "cooking and culture and mexico" or consider doing a precise search as described below. Not enough results? Try fewer search terms, or use broader terms, for example "food and culture".
3. Get the full text of an article. Look for terms like "Link to full text", HTML Full Text, PDF, for example:

IF you don't see a link to PDF or HTML full text, click on the button to connect to full text.

More precise: Database Search
Summon contains information from several hundred databases, each of which covers a particular discipline or subject area. Searching one database at a time lets you take advantage of powerful search features not available in Summon, including

• limiting to articles that appeared in a particular journal, or by a particular author
• limiting by age range/sex/gender of subject, research methodology, geographical location of research subjects, literary technique, historical period, chemical reaction, etc. (varies by database)
• combining search results

1 Choose an Article Database

• From the UBC Library Home Page, choose Finding Resources
• Choose Research Guides
• Enter the general term for your subject, e.g. physics
• You may retrieve more than one guide: choose the guide that seems best for your research, e.g. Engineering Physics
• Connect to the research guide
• On the tab that says Articles or Indexes and Databases, choose a database from the list
• Follow the links to connect to the database

2 Search the Database

• Search by keyword(s) for your topic, e.g. voting and youth
• Look at your search results

Too many results? Consider redoing the search with different terms or adding an additional search term, e.g. voting and youth and canada
Not enough results? Consider redoing the search with broader terms or fewer terms e.g. politics and youth

3 Get the full text of an article

• Look for terms like Link to full text, HTML full text, PDF full text:

• If you don't see a link to PDF or HTML, click on the button to connect to full text. (In some databases, UBC eLink with no icon).

UBC eLink searches for full text in all of UBC Library's online resources, not just the database you've searched in.

• If UBC Library subscribes to the online version of the journal, you'll see this:

Click on the Article link to connect to the full text

Where no full text is available, click on "Search UBC Library Catalogue" to find items in print at UBC Library.

Articles on Course Reserve

Course reserves are learning materials made available by your course instructor. They may include electronic articles, books and DVDs and even websites.

• Many course reserves are electronic but some materials are only available at the Library.
• Non-electronic items are made available for a shortened loan period to ensure access for all students.

Getting Started

1. Log into Connect

2. Click on "Library" in the top right navigation

3. Click on the desired course under "My Course Reserves."

4. You can also access Course Reserves from any course in Connect by clicking on Course Reserves in the left-hand column.

5. You can add your e-mail if you want to be notified of new course readings by clicking on "Manage E-mail Subscription." and submitting your e-mail. A new notification will be sent every time an item becomes available

Viewing Course Reserve Items

1. Your list of course readings is in the order submitted by your course instructor. The item list include Title, Author, Call Number (if on physical reserve at your library branch), and Tag.

2. Clicking on any title will take you to a record with further information about an item. You can connect to electronic items from this page or link to the item record to see if it is available at your library branch.

3. If your instructor has assigned tags (e.g. "Week 2," "Group 1," "Project 3"), you may click on the tag to limit the list to just those readings. You may also assign your own personal tags to readings. Please note that you must clear the filter to return to the full list of course readings.

Getting Help

If you need assistance, you can click on the Need Help tab. The Library provides two levels of support for Course Reserves in Connect:

1. Course Reserves support is provided by the appropriate Library locations and support units.

e.g. For a Biology course, the help tab will direct you to: “Contact your local Library Reserve Staff at Woodward Library: woodward.reserve@ubc.ca”

2. For problems with the application and bug reports, Library Course Reserves support can be reached at: course-support@library.ubc.ca

Interlibrary Loan

I already did a search, and UBC Library doesn’t have it.

• Request the item via InterLibrary Loan (ILL)
• Library staff search catalogues of other libraries to find the article you need and request that a copy be sent to UBC Library for you to pick up. This service is free to UBC students, faculty or staff for academic research materials.

OR

• Visit a local library that has a copy (e.g. SFU, Vancouver Public Library, etc.) Most libraries do not permit anyone to check out journals, magazines or newspapers.