Use this tutorial to learn how to search for
magazine articles in the InfoTrac OneFile
database. If you prefer classroom training,
check with
your local library (see
Member Library
Directory). Some libraries offer training classes on how to
search for magazine articles.
This tutorial covers the following topics:
WHAT IS INFOTRAC ONEFILE?
InfoTrac OneFile is a database of thousands of general interest and
scholarly magazines, newspapers, and news wire articles on a wide range of
topics. It covers 1980 to the present and is updated daily. Many of the
articles are full text (the entire article) and include pictures. When OneFile
does not have the entire article it will give you the citation (journal
name and date) and an abstract (short summary) of the article. Use the
citation to find the article at your library.
The Monroe County Library System has many other specialized databases. OneFile
is the most comprehensive and is a good place to start your search for
magazine articles.
HOW TO ACCESS ONEFILE FROM YOUR COMPUTER
On the Internet, type in the website address for the Monroe County
Library System: www.libraryweb.org. Click on the link for Magazine
Indexes and Other Databases. Scroll down the list of indexes and databases
until you find InfoTrac OneFile. Click on the link.
If you are accessing the database from inside a library, click the
Proceed button. If you are not in a library, type in your patron ID number (this starts with 29077) from
your library card followed by a comma and your last name. Then click the Proceed button.
HOW TO SEARCH FOR MAGAZINE ARTICLES
The best search to use is a Keyword search. Think of one or two
words that describe your topic. You have the choice to search for
these words in only the "title, citation or abstract" or in the "entire
article content." If you want articles that are primarily about the words
you are searching for, then select "title, citation or abstract" for your
search. If you want to find all articles that include these words, even as
a fleeting reference, then
select "entire article content" for your search.
The first page you see in OneFile is the Search page. There are
four parts of the page you will use: 1) Keyword search, 2) the search box,
3) the search
type menu and 4) the search button. To see an illustration of this page
with red arrows pointing to these parts (close the pop-up window when done),
click here.
To practice a keyword search to find information about the reconstruction of
Iraq,
click here.
After you clicked the Search button, a Title List page was displayed.
The most recent articles were listed first. Listed along with the title of
the article you found the author, what magazine or journal it appeared in,
and date of publication, as well as whether the article is available in
full text or as a citation.
HOW TO PRINT OR E-MAIL AN ARTICLE
You can print or e-mail an article or citation. After you have clicked
on a title on the Title List page, the article or citation for that title
is displayed. Scroll to the bottom of
the article or citation page and you will find a link labeled Browser
Print and the E-mail Delivery box. Note that Browser Print tells you how many pages will be
printed. To see an illustration of these features (close the pop-up window
to return to this tutorial),
click here.
You can also print or e-mail a list of titles. To do this you must
first "mark" the titles. Next to the title of each article is a box.
Clicking in this box will mark the article. To see all
the titles you have marked, click "View mark list" found in the blue column, near the top of the page. (Where
is the View mark list?) Scroll to the bottom of this list and you will
find the link to print the page and the E-mail Delivery box.
To practice marking titles and e-mailing the list,
click here.
HOW TO LIMIT YOUR SEARCH TO DATES AND SPECIFIC
MAGAZINES
There are four limits you can place on your search: 1) to articles with
text, 2) to refereed publications (articles reviewed by experts before
being published), 3) by date, and 4) by the name of the journal (i.e.
magazine). (Where
are these limit search options?)
To practice a keyword search with limits,
click here.
When limiting by date you may type the date or date range in a variety
of ways. For example, "July 6, 1983", "7/6/83", "6
July 1983", "3/30/03 - 4/15/03", "since July 6 1983" and "before
April 15 1991" are all valid.
TIPS FOR BETTER SEARCHES
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Ignore small, common words like a, and, etc, of,
the when typing in your search words. |
|
|
Combine words with
and to find articles that contain both of the search words.
Example: poverty and crime |
|
|
Use or between words to find articles that contain either or
both words. Example: college or university |
|
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Use not to exclude articles that contain that word. To find
articles on Mexico but not New Mexico use: Mexico not new |
|
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Use an asterisk (*)
at the end of a word to search for all words with the same root. The
search pigment* will search for pigment, pigments,
pigmentation. |
|
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Use a question mark (?)
to substitute exactly for one letter within a word. Use this for
words that have different spelling. The search wom?n
will search for women, woman, womyn, womin, etc. |
|
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Use an exclamation mark
(!) to substitute one or no letters in a word. It is most
useful for searching singular and plural forms of a word. The search
product! will search for product and products but not
productivity. |
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