This presentation provides support for finding and evaluating articles for assignments using the Harris Learning Library website. HLL serves Nipissing University, Canadore College, the surrounding communities, and the general public. Many subscription databases are available only to current students, staff, and faculty of Nipissing University or Canadore College but HLL also provides access to many Open Access resources which are available to everyone.

1. How Do I…
Find Articles

2. Why use articles?
 Provide up-to-date information
 Deal with current topics → the latest
research, theories, interpretations,
news, products, trends
 Most have a specific focus
 May reflect different viewpoints

3. The Library subscribes to many databases
which provide access to
thousands of online magazines,
journals, newspapers & similar publications

4. Many articles are available in their
entirety through these databases
Some articles are available in print
or microform formats.

5. What’s the difference between a
journal and a magazine?

6. Magazine Articles
 General-interest
 Not scholarly
 Written by reporters, feature
editors
 Wide audience
 Usually, < 5 pages
 No abstracts or references
 Glossy, with pictures
 Advertisements

7. Journal Articles
 Scholarly
 Written by subject experts
 Report on original research
 Specific audience
 Usually, > 5 pages
 Include abstracts
 References
 Usually, no pictures
 No advertisements

8. Journals vs. Magazines
In college and university, you are often
expected to use “scholarly” sources
of information
Scholarly articles are found in journals
Tip: Scholarly journals are sometimes called “academic” journals.

9. What does
“peer-reviewed” mean?

10. Peer-reviewed articles…
 Have been critically evaluated by subject
experts
 Must meet high academic standards
before being accepted for publication in
scholarly journals

11. When you use peer-reviewed articles,
you know you have the most reliable
scholarly information published!
Tip: Some journals use the term “refereed” instead of
“peer-reviewed”

12. OK,
how do I FIND articles
in the Library?

13. To find Articles, go to Your Library
Select Search Resources or Library Search
www.canadorecollege.ca/library
www.nipissingu.ca/library

14. For best results, login
with your institutional
credentials

15. Type in your
search words
Narrow your
results to view
Articles
Don’t forget to
Select Apply
Filters

16. Continue to
modify results and
search terms as
needed (i.e.
adding more
search terms,
dates, peer
review)
Then select the
Available Online
link

17. In this example we
can see the article
is available from
several databases
(or collections)
Select any of the
links

18. Designing Your Search

19. First, identify the main concepts of your topic
“The effect of video games on adolescent behaviour”
Video games
Adolescents
Behaviour

20. Video games, adolescents and behaviour
are called “keywords”
 Keywords are single words or short
phrases that represent concrete ideas
 Keywords are what you use to search
for articles

21. Next, think of other ways to express these
topic keywords, including:
 Synonyms
 Related words
 Other forms of your keywords, such as
alternate spellings, plural vs. singular, etc

22. Make a list of your keywords
Topic Keywords Alternate Keywords
Video games
Electronic games, computer games
Teenagers
Teen(s), teenage, adolescent(s), adolescence,
youth(s)
Narrower terms – girl(s), boy(s)
Broader terms – child, children
Behaviour
Behavior
Narrower terms - violence, aggressiveness,
aggression, fighting, bullying

23. Results not relevant to your topic?
Try a new search using different terms or
a different database.
Not enough articles?
Your search terms or your topic might be
too specific. Try to broaden your search.
Too many articles?
You need to narrow your search to give it a
more specific focus.

24. Narrowing Your Search
Try one or more of the following:
 Use a more specific search term
 Add another search term
 Click on a subject heading
 Select a publication type, such as academic
(scholarly) journals

25. Using the more specific term “teenage boys”,
instead of “teenagers”, narrows our search
122,994 results 624,277results

26. Adding another search term gives fewer,
more relevant results

27. Remember to use the
filters on the left-hand
side to limit your
results to articles only
Click on the Articles
option found under
the Resource Type
heading

28. There is also an
option to limit
your results to
items from
Peer-Reviewed
Journals

29. Broadening Your Search
Try one or more of the following:
 Combine variations of your search terms
with “OR”
 Use a broader search term
 Reduce the number of terms in your search.
 Search a different database

30. This search using “OR” will find articles using the
word “teenagers” as well as articles using the
word “adolescent”
Over 1 million
results
Adding another
keyword will
help reduce the
number of
results
Notice our
Peer-
Reviewed
and Article
filters have
been
selected

31. Results not relevant to your topic?
 Try different synonyms,
different spellings, or
other words related to
your search terms
And/Or
 Use the Filters on the left-
hand side to limit results
by Subject type OR by
specific Database

32. Once you have a manageable
number of relevant articles,
take a closer look at your results

33. To find out more
about an article
click on the title
This will bring up a
pop-up window
with more
information

34. Included on this
pop-up page will
be a DETAILS
section
This includes a
description of the
article’s contents
(also known as the
ABSTRACT)

35. To access the full article, look for the
VIEW ONLINE section
Select the link
provided to be taken
to the article
If the article is
available in multiple
databases there will
be more than one
link

36. If you wish to get an article not available through
the library, you still may be able to access it using
our Interlibrary Loan Service
To learn more about Interlibrary Loans visit
www.eclibrary.ca
and select Library Services

37. Remember to keep records of all the articles
you use for information
 This will help if you want to find them again
later!
 You will also need this information when you
prepare your bibliography

38. Most databases allow you to:
 Print articles
 Save articles to your computer or a USB key
 Email articles to yourself
 Export articles to RefWorks or other Citation
Management system

39. Another Way to Find Articles
If you’ve found a good article, look at the references
to see what sources the author cited
You may find more articles related to your topic!

40. How do I find an article when all I have is a
citation?
Sample citation:
Cates, I. (2011). On the Literary Use of Superheroes; or, Batman and
Superman Fistfight in Heaven. American Literature, 83(4), 831–857.
https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-1437234

41. The easiest option is to simply enter the article
title into the Canadore or Nipissing Search bar

42. The article title appears as the first result in this example

43. However, it may not always be so easy especially if the
title is similar to many other article titles
In this case a JOURNAL SEARCH can be used to locate the
article

44. Once you select the JOURNAL SEARCH option you will
notice that the search bar has changed and now indicates
that a journal search is being conducted
Enter the title of the JOURNAL (not the article) into the
search bar

45. The correct journal
should appear in
your results list
In this case the
correct journal was
#6 in our results list
Select the journal
title

46. In the View Online
section there may be
one or more links
Select the one that
includes the
year/volume the article
is in
You will notice some
databases only have
articles from certain
dates

47. Every journal’s page will look different, but they all
should have a place where you can select the correct
year, volume and issue

48. Once the correct year,
volume and issue is
entered a list of articles
should appear
Scroll through until you
find the correct one
There should then be an
option to view the
article and/or download
a PDF copy

49. Want to access E-Resources from off-campus?
You will be asked to login, use the correct login for
your institution
Nipissing:
Your WebAdvisor Username
and Password
Canadore:
Your Canadore Network Username
and Password

50. We’re here to help!
Please visit the Service Desk or contact us:
Email
 libraryhelp@nipissingu.ca (NIPISSING)
 library.help@canadorecollege.ca (CANADORE)
Phone
 705-474-3450 ext. 4222