History of Science Online - Course Info - Time tips - Semester Schedule - Weekly Assignments - Timeline - Projects - Course Info: HSCI 3013 - section 995 - Fall 2008

How do I find full-text articles using the Library's e-journals and databases?

A vast amount of the most reliable online content can be accessed through the Library website. The e-journals and databases the Library subscribes to are generally not available through internet search engines, but often include full-text articles just like you would see in the printed volumes on the Library shelves. To get off the beaten path and discover new and unexpected things, explore the history of science literature through these online resources! (See the last part of How do I evaluate sources for my web project?)

Here's what to do:

1. Use the Isis Bibliography to identify articles or books that interest you. For this example, let's say that using the Isis Bibliography, you've identified this article as one you would like to read: William Newman, "Newton's Clavis as Starkey's Key," Isis. With the Isis Bibliography you will be able to obtain a complete bibliographic citation, including the date of publication, volume number, and page numbers.
     
      
2. Go to the Library online website, http://libraries.ou.edu.
    
    
3. Log in. You can enter your 4x4 and password in the fields on the left margin. If you log in now, you won't have to remember to do so later. Also, if you are off-campus, many of the databases may not be accessible to you unless you have already logged in. Develop the habit of logging in, first thing, whenever you visit the library home page.
    
    
4. Click the link at the top to go to LORA ("Library Online Resource Access").
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5. Search for key words, or enter the database or periodical name you want to view. Some of the library databases and e-journals of special relevance for the history of science are listed here.
     
   In our example, we want to find an article from the journal Isis. So enter Isis in the "Search for Resource Title" field, and click "go."  
    
    
    
   
6. The results include databases and ejournals. Click on ejournals.
      
    
7. A variety of journals are listed. The results include Isis at JSTOR. Click JSTOR
    
     
    
    
    
8. The JSTOR page for Isis includes options to search or to browse past issues. Either way you find your article, read it online, or print off a copy for reference. Now you know how to find online sources that not even a Google search can reveal! (Although Google Scholar just might turn up some of these.)
    

The Library has several online video tutorials available here: http://libraries.ou.edu/help/tutorials/
The following tutorials, available at that link, are very helpful because they go beyond the simple steps outlined above to cover sources that might not be so easy to find as Isis in JSTOR:

• Searching Databases
• Article Linker
• Using Article1st
• Using LORA

Online books through the Library: The Library catalog includes thousands of online books that you can't find with a Google search. Many are the exact full-text replicas of printed books on the library's shelves. So try searching the OU Libraries catalog to find an e-book you are searching for. The Libraries' Online video tutorial on "Advanced Catalog Searching" (only 2 minutes long) uses searching for a full-text e-book as an example.

Relevant pages on this course website:

• How do I evaluate sources for my web project?
• Must I use only online sources?
• General sources (eg the DSB)
• Isis Bibliography
• Back to Research tips

	HSCI 3013. History of Science to 17th century Kerry Magruder, 2004-08 Report typos or broken links Many thanks to Mythology and Folklore and other online courses developed by Laura Gibbs.	Search course websites:
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