Finding Full Text Articles

While a library database may have an abstract for a search result, that library database may not have the license to provide "full text" for that particular publication. These instructions begin with a search result that does not include full text. (These instructions are for Southern Connecticut State University. I wrote similar instructions for SLCC.)

NOTE: These instructions are for a Wall Street Journal article originally found on Academic Search Premier, while the "full text" was available on ProQuest Newspapers; your own results will be different if you are looking for your own article.

Purpose: How to use library databases to find the full text for an article.

These instructions begin with search results, rather than explain how to find search results. Use this link to find instructions for finding search results. The library database provides tools to find "full text" sources for which your local library has a license.
While many search results include full text, as either HTML or PDF, the pictured article here is a search result that does not provide a full text result. Look for the Find Article @ SCSU link  at the bottom of the entry. This link will help you find the "full text." Click on the link.
This screen provides information on the SCSU collection of any publication source. Click on the icon of a computer laptop to find the library's online resources for that publication.
The library has subscriptions to many library databases that have a license for either "abstract-only" or the "full text." By using the Find Article @ SCSU link, the results will only be library databases that have "full text." For the example pictured in these instructions, there are two different ProQuest databases that have a full text license. For these instructions, I clicked on the first link to ProQuest Newspapers Wall Street Journal.
For the example pictured in these instructions, the interface looks like the picture here. Scan the entry for the option to search within the publication. Different library databases place the search field in different parts of their interface. In order to directly to the article I want, I typed in the first words of the article's title. The first words of your own title search may be different.
The list of search results will load. However, the first result on the list is the article I am looking for. At the bottom of the entry is a Full Text link. Click the Full Text link to read your article.
IMPORTANT: if you use the full text article you find, be sure to cite the library database you used to read the full text. In the case of these instructions, the database is the ProQuest Newspapers Wall Street Journal.
Many library databases provide the citations for you. Search the interface for some kind of option. The library databases differ wildly. For these instructions, click on the Cite icon available in the upper right of the ProQuest database pictured in these instructions.
A dialog box appears. Click on the Citation Style drop down menu to select the citation style you need for your paper. For these instructions, I have selected MLA 7th edition. Upon the selection of the citation style, the citation format will automatically generate. Copy and Paste the citation to your Works Cited page.

All instructions and documentation written by:

Dr. Jason Lawrence, M.S., Ph.D.

Theory and Practice of Professional Communication

Artificial Intelligence writers, Internal Documentation, and Emergent Texts
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