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How to Find Articles: Instructions

This guide will help you use article collections and databases to find journal, magazine, and news articles, both scholarly and popular.

Did You Know?

Catalog or database?

Our catalog allows you to search across multiple databases all at once.

Benefits:

  • yields results from many sources
  • start searching without selecting a database

Disadvantages:

  • fewer options for focusing your results
  • results display in order of source, rather than by relevance
  • sheer number of results overwhelming


Our Find Articles page allows you to choose the database you wish to search.

Benefits:

  • more options to control and narrow the search
  • some databases dedicated specifically to certain topics

Disadvantages:

  • hard to know which database to choose
  • "Find Articles" page sometimes confusing


Our Database LibGuides can help you find the right database.

Article Sources: A-Z List

  • Access the database you want when you already know its name

Article Sources: By Subject

  • Choose databases that are best for your topic

Article Sources: By College/Discipline

  • Choose databases popular in your area of study.

Article Sources: By Brand

  • See lists of all EBSCO databases, all Gale databases, etc.

Find Articles from Journals, Magazines, etc.

There are two ways to search for articles from journals, magazines, and other sources.  You can: 

  • choose an article collection (database) from:
OR

See the box on the left to help you decide which method will work best for you. Instructions for using the Find Articles page or the catalog can be found below.

Find Articles Using the Library Catalog

  1. Start on the catalog search page.
  2. Type your search term(s) into the empty box.
  3. Click Search.
  4. Check the box for "Article" under "Format" in the left-side toolbar. You can also select "Peer-reviewed" to see only articles from scholarly journals.  Other limitations are available in the toolbar as well.
  5. Click on the "View Now" link for the article you want. 
  6. Some articles may appear in more than one database. It usually doesn't matter which "View full text" link you choose. (If one doesn't work, try another.)
  7. Information about the article will be displayed. Look for a "Full Text" icon or link to open and view the article.

Find Articles Using the "Find Articles" page

  1. Start on the Find Articles page.
  2. Choose from one of our "Premium" collections that cover all topics (white buttons), or choose a specialized collection from the list of "Special Sources by Topic." 
  3. To choose one of the premium collections, click the button for the database of your choice.
  4. To choose a specialized source, roll over the topic, then choose an option from the pop-up list.
  5. If prompted, submit your DBU username and password, and log in.
  6. Type your search term(s) in the boxes provided.
  7. Place any limitations you want on your search—full-text only, certain year or span of years, peer-reviewed only, etc. Different databases have different options.
  8. Click Search.
  9. Full-text articles will have a link for opening the file—usually in PDF format.  You can read, download, print out, or even email the article.
  10. If you find an article that is not available in full text, check our library catalog to see if we have a subscription to the journal. If we do, you can find the journal in the library and make a copy of the article.  (Journals can't be checked out from the library.)  
  11. If we don't have a subscription, you can use our Interlibrary Loan service to get the article from another library.  Click here to learn more about Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
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