Bishop Hodges LibraryLocating Full Text Articles: A Guide for Nursing

Students

Go to the library’s homepage: http://libguides.wju.edu Click on the Distance Learners tab:

When conducting research, a student will need to be able to locate scholarly (peer reviewed) articles. Bishop Hodges Library has all the tools required to complete this part of the research process. To begin:

Click on Nursing in the list of Research Guides; this will take you to the Nursing Research Guide page.

Notice that there is a box on the left of the Nursing Research Guide page titled How to Access:

There is a link to a tutorial that explains how to access the library’s electronic resources from off campus.

The most important information that you need to log in from off campus is your ID number (seven digits). Please contact the library if you have questions.

The most commonly used electronic resource for Nursing is CINAHL. It is the first in the list of Electronic Resources on the Nursing Research Guide page. Let’s conduct a sample search in CINAHL:

Click on CINAHL Complete If you are off campus, you will be prompted to log in.

In the first search box, type diabetesIn the second box, type child:

Scroll down to the Search Options section:

Notice the area called Limit your results.

Scroll down to Peer reviewed Check the box to limit your results to scholarly articles Click Search

Displayed at the top of results list is the total number of results.

You may also further refine your results by selecting the options here or sliding the arrows under Publication Date.

In this example, we will look at the initial results list without setting any additional limits.

In order to sift through a list of results efficiently, use the abstract tool next to the article’s title. Placing the cursor over the magnifying glass will allow the abstract to be displayed (if it is available).

This particular article title does include the abstract.

CINAHL Complete contains full text articles, citations, and abstracts. Not all titles are available as full text. The first result in our list is a full text article. This will be indicated at the bottom of each article entry.

Click on the link to PDF Full Text to read or to print the article.

The second result in the list is not full text in CINAHL. However, you may click on Check LinkSource for more information to determine whether or not the article is available in one of the library’s other electronic resources.

In this example, we find that the article is not available in any other electronic format through the library. This is indicated by the message Revise Request.

The next step would be to check the library’s physical holdings for availability in print, microfiche, or microfilm.

From the original citation in CINAHL, locate the journal title. Highlight the title and copy it. Go back to the Distance Learners page Locate Journals A to Z List in the Locate Information box Click on the link

Paste the title into the search box Click search

The title does show availability in other electronic resources (including CINAHL). The article we need is from July 2012. The results show that there is an embargo period of one year. In other words, none of the articles from the most recent 12 months is available in full text.

Even though the article is not available in either the library’s electronic resources or in the library’s physical holdings, a student may request the article through interlibrary loan.

Go back to the Distance Learners page Find Interlibrary Loan Distance Learner in the Locate Information box Click on the link

Fill in the form making sure that the information is complete. You may simply copy and paste the full citation into the Additional Comments box near the bottom of the form.

Before sending the request, be sure that you included your contact information. Notice also that it says “allow 10 days for delivery”.

Finally, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the library. Our contact information can be found by clicking the About the Library tab on the library homepage.

We are here for you!