Current Issues Research - Professor Siler 

What is a periodical article?

A periodical is a newspaper, magazine, journal... or anything that comes out "periodically" - weekly, monthly, bi-annually.  The PSC Library has many periodicals - some in print on the shelves and others (many many others) that are available electronically throught the databases.  This is wonderful because you can access the periodicals in the databases anytime and anywhere.

What databases does PSC have?

PSC subscribes to over 100 databases.  You have already used one of them, CQ Researcher.  There are many others from which to choose.  Some are good for finding periodical articles from a variety of topic areas, some are good for finding statistics, some are for videos, some for images, songs, books...  Some databases are good for finding information on any topic and others focus on a specific area of study like science, history, nursing, business.

Once you have decided on a CQ Researcher article, you can choose a general database to find articles or you can choose a subject area specific database.

Some general periodical databases you might consider using.
All of these search for magazine, journal, and newpaper articles on a wide variety of topics.

• General Periodical Databases:
• Academic Onefile
• Academic Search Complete
• Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
• General OneFile
• OmniFile

Some subject specific databases that you might consider using.
These databases search for magazine, journal articles, newpaper articles, reference book excepts, videos, audio...

• Opposing Viewpoints - articles from books, journals, magazines, newspapers on current issues
• America's Newspapers - newspapers from around the nation
• Issues and Controversies - articles on current issue topics
• New York Times - database version of the newspaper source
• Statistical Tables from Lexis Nexis - statistics from many reliable sources all in one database
• E-Books from NetLibrary - fulltext of thousands of books online

All the PSC databases are accessed by clicking on the "Databases" button on the PSC Library web site.

Enter your Student ID and PIN (last four digits of you Student ID) to login.

If you have trouble connecting to a database, you may have to turn off your pop-up blocker or lower your security settings.

Searching Databases

Each database works a little differently, but basically, they work kind of the same way.  Once you are connected you will get a screen that has 1-4 boxes where you can enter whatever it is you are looking for.  It is very similar to searching the Internet using a search engine like Google or Yahoo... except you are searching a specific database for specific types of information.  If you want videos you might search YouTube or Google Videos, if you want journal articles on nursing you would search the CINAHL database, if you want slinky underwear, you would search thorugh Victoria's Secret... The right tool for the job, you know?

After you enter your search terms and click "search," you should receive a list of articles that match your search terms - it's kind of like computer dateing.  The full-text articles will have a link that says "full-text" - the whole article will be there not just the abstract.  If you click on the link, the whole article will be there for you to read, print, e-mail or save to your memory stick.

Once you get comfortable, you can experiment with refining your search.  Set date limits, types of resources, add in synonyms...

As always, if you need assistance - please ask!