Watch this First!
Searching library databases can be more complex than searching Google. Watch this short video to learn how to do the best possible search and to take advantage of all the extra features offered by library databases.
Best Databases for Your Project
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
- Social Science Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
- Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
How to Find Scholarly Articles
Search Strategy:
- Click on one of the databases listed above
- If you are off campus, you will need to enter your SCU username and password
- Enter keywords describing your topic in the search boxes (one keyword or phrase per box)
- Use an asterisk (*) to find variations of a word. For example, American* will retrieve American and Americans
- Use synonyms or related terms to increase your results. For example: assimilation or acculturation
- If you only want scholarly articles, you can limit your search to "peer reviewed" only. (See video on the left to learn how to find the scholarly peer-reviewed articles in your results.)
For example, if you are researching intergenerational conflicts among Korean Americans, enter:
Getting the full text of the articles you want:
1. If the database you are using has the full text of the article, just click on the link (pdf or html).
2. If the full text is not available within the database, click on Find It@SCU Libraries:
- Is the article available in another database (e.g., Wilson OmniFile, JSTOR)? If so, click on the link and use the citation information (e.g., volume, issue, date of publication, etc.) to find your article
- Does the library have this journal in print? Go to the OSCAR record and request the issue you need
- If the library doesn't have access to the full text of the article, you will be offered the option of ordering a scanned copy of it through the interlibrary loan service (which is free).
Exercise 2
First watch the video on how to search databases, and then search for your topic in at least two databases from the list on the left.
Then complete the following exercise, which should help you find and evaluate a good scholarly article.