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Periodicals & Databases

A periodical is a collection of items published in print and/or electronically at certain intervals (weekly, biweekly, monthly, or quarterly).

Examples include - magazines, newspapers, journals, and reviews.

Databases contain electronic periodicals. 

This interactive tutorial will walk you through the steps of using the library databases. 

On This Page

Popular vs Scholarly Periodicals

 
Popular Scholarly

Marie Claire

American Literature

Time

American Criminal Law Review

Wired

Aerospace Power Journal

Yoga Journal

BCM Health Services Research

 

What's the Difference?
 

Popular articles are from publications that are "popular" to the general public. They can be identified by the following characteristics:

  • Articles about "hot topics"
  • Color images or people, places, and things
  • Common language
  • Lack an author or citation information
  • Short article length
  • Written by journalist for the mass public

Scholarly articles are found in professional journals; they can be identified by the following characteristics:

  • Articles related to professional studies in a particular field
  • Author and citation information is displayed
  • Long in length
  • Images of statistics data, graphs, and charts
  • Professional, technical, and scientific language and writing style
  • Reviewed and written by professionals in the field

Undergraduate Research: It is important to know that popular and scholarly articles are good sources of information. When selecting articles think about the way you are going to use the content.

Popular: background research

Scholarly: academic cite-able research

Databases - Benefits & Contents

Item Types

  • Academic & Professional Journals
  • eBooks
  • Images: Photos, Maps, Flags
  • Literature Reviews
  • Magazines
  • Newspapers
  • Periodicals
  • Reference Materials: Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
  • Searchable Cited References
  • Television & Radio News Transcript

Abstracts: a quick way to see if a document is going to be useful to your research without reading the full report.

Audio Features

Cite Sources

Control Results: Filters to help you control results and select article type, date ranges, reading levels, and advanced search.

Embedded Dictionaries 

Email (document link and citation) 

Experience: you are a college student! Academic level work is expected.

Get Familiar: with journal titles and authors in your field of study or major.

RSS Feed

Scholarly Materials: find peer-reviewed and academic or scholarly documents.  

Translate Tools

Undecided Research Topic: Shop for a topic by browsing in the Subject and Topic lists.

 

 

How to Access Electronic & Print Periodicals

Electronic periodicals are located with the databases:

Navigate to the library homepage then click on the database tab.

 

 

Print periodicals appear in the catalog using OneSearch on the library homepage and are located on the second floor of the LLRC. 

Search Tips

Advanced Search: exact search terms, language tools, file format, and time period.

Boolean Operators: expand or narrow your search by using AND (+), OR, NOT (-)

  • AND: narrows search results: travel AND Europe
  • NOT: narrows search results: television NOT cable
  • OR: broadens search results: college OR university

Correct Spelling

Keyword Searching: use keywords and synonyms that describe your concepts and topics; e.g., Child, minor, infant.

Multiple Databases: use at least two sources for your research.  

Phrase Searching: put quotation marks around phrases you want to see together; e.g., “higher education”.
 
Truncation: allows you to search words with the same root, which in turn broadens search results; e.g., music* finds: musical, musician, musicians, and musicality.