Database Tutorials

America: History & Life

Searching

Advanced Searching

You will automatically be brought to the Advanced Searching page if you get to A:H&L from anywhere on our websites. In advanced searching, you are given more ability to pinpoint exactly the kinds of articles you would like to see in your results. This is the page that should automatically load when you enter into A:H&L

• In order to search by author’s name, title, subject term, etc., use the dropdown menu by the search box to select the appropriate field.
  • If you do not choose an option from this menu, the database will automatically search your term in all the article citation fields (including abstract) except the full text of the article
• To broaden or narrow your search results, use the ‘AND’ dropdown menus before the 2^nd and 3^rd text boxes
  • There will be three options: AND (which is automatically chosen), OR, & NOT
  • AND: will only display results that include both/all the search terms
  • OR: will display all results with either/any of the search terms
  • NOT: will display results with the previous search terms, but will leave out results that include the following search term
• If you need more than the three provided text boxes for search terms, click the plus button (below the green Search button) and use as normal
• The Search Options are automatically displayed
  • You can limit by date of publication, type of publication, language, just print materials, just full-text materials, etc.
  • Check the boxes or click the options in the lists that you would like to limit by
  • This is optional - all of these filters will appear again on your result page (see below)
• When you are ready, click the green "Search" button

 

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Basic Searching

You will automatically be brought to the Advanced Searching page if you get to A:H&L from anywhere on our websites. However, if you're just looking to browse articles on your topic without much concern for specificity, you may want to use the Basic Search function. The Basic Search page looks like this:

• Type your search terms into the text box
• To see filters and more searching options, click on ‘Search Options’ if they have not already appeared.
  • You can limit by date of publication, type of publication, language, just print materials, just full-text materials, etc.
  • Check the boxes or click the options in the lists that you would like to limit by
  • This is optional - all of these filters will appear again on your result page (see below)
• Click "Search"

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Limiting and Reading Results

Once you click the search button, you will get a list of resources, which will look like the image below:

From here, you can:

• Limit the results showing by clicking on the boxes on the left side of the screen that are below the "Refine Results" label
  • In this list, you can narrow your results based on date of publication, type of resource (book, article, newspaper, etc), subject terms, language, etc.
  • You'll also notice three checkboxes directly below your search terms over here:
    • if you only want journals that we have in print in the library, click the box next to "Print Journals at Geisel Library",
    • or if you only want resources we have in their entirety (even if it is in another database, hence the "non-EBSCO" modifier), click "Non-EBSCO full text",
    • or if you do not want to see any book reviews, click the box next to "Exclude book reviews", and your results page will automatically refresh to reflect those choices.
  • You can click the boxes (or move the date slider) again at any time to undo that action.
• Change your search terms
• Find Full-Text of the article (more on that below)
• Click into the resource's record to find more information

 

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Reading a Detailed Record

If you click on an item to see more information, you'll get a page that looks like this:

In this view you'll see all kinds of information about your resource:

• The Title is up at the top, your keywords are bolded
• Author: who wrote the article/book. You can click on this name and see all the other articles written by this person (that are in this database).
• Source: your citation information is in here, so the information will change depending on what kind of resource you've got. In this case, we are looking at an article, so here is listed the name of the Journal, the date it was published, volume number, issue number, page numbers, total number of pages, and extra items (in this case, images)
• Historical Period: the period of time about which this article discusses. In this case, the article is about the film Star Wars, which came out in 1977, so the historical period reflected here is 1971-1990. Note: this is NOT the historical period in which the article itself was written
• Document Type: what kind of source you are looking at. Ex: article, book, magazine, newspaper, periodical, ebook, audio recording, photo
• Subject terms: words that describe what the article is about. These are all links, so if you click on one of the terms, the database will automatically create a search for that term as a subject term and return all the other items that have that same subject term.
• People: other people involved in the creation of this article (photographer, editor, translator, etc.)
• Abstract: A short summary of what the article is about.
• Other information: things like ISSN numbers, DOI links, author-supplied keywords, etc. These will change depending on the kind of information the database can pull from the source.

From this screen you can:

• Find the Full-Text: more below on Full-Text, but there will be a WebBridge or a PDF Full-Text button in the top left of your screen that you can click on
• Email, Print, or Save the record page: see the red box on the right side of the screenshot, click these links to perform that action
  • See more information below on how to save your articles to folders in America: History & Life to access them later
• Cite the article:
  • simply click the button on the right that says Cite, and a grey box will appear at the top of the record.
  • Scroll through the list to find the citation style you need.
  • You can copy and paste this information, or export it to a Bibliographic Management Software (Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, etc.).
  • For more information on citing articles, see below.

 

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For videos about Searching, click on the links below:

Getting Full-Text

When looking for full articles in America: History & Life, always look for either the WebBridge or PDF Full Text buttons, which look like this:

 OR 

So when in doubt, look for either of these and you'll get your article. There are a few ways to get the full article you are looking for, and a few different screens you can do it from.

 

From the Results List

From the search results page, there will be either the WebBridge link or a Full Text link at the bottom of each item. Simply click on that full text link and you'll be able to view and download the entire article.

 

From the Detailed Record

You can also find the full text of an article from the full item record. From the results page, if you click on the title of the resource you want to look at, there will be a link in the top left of the screen for full text. Again, it'll either be the WebBridge button or a PDF/HTML Full Text link. This is what that screen will look like:

 

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Using WebBridge

WebBridge is an application we use here in Geisel Library when articles are not available in full text in the database you searched. This means we either have access to said article in another database, we have it in print in the library, or we don't have access to it at all and you'll have to use Interlibrary Loan to get it.

When you click on the WebBridge link, one of three things will be displayed.

1. a list of databases where the article can be found in full,
2. instructions on how to find the print text in the library, or
3. a link to Interlibrary Loan if we have no access to this article online or in print.

 

If Geisel Library has the article in full in another database

Your screen will look like this:

To see the full text of this article, simply click on the link to one of the databases shown, and you will automatically be taken to the article in full in that database.

 

If Geisel Library has the article in print

Your screen will look like this:

Click on the "Check here for Location" link provided, and you'll be brought to the library catalog, where you can see where in the building the title you're looking for lives, and what volumes (if it's a journal article) we own. That page will look like this:

 

You will have to come into the library itself to retrieve these items. If you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to ask someone at the Reference or Periodicals Desk for help. We're happy to assist!

 

If Geisel Library does not have access at all

Fear not! You can still get said article! Your screen will look like this:

If this is your screen, simply click on the "Geisel Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL)" link. You will be redirected automatically to a login page for ILL, which will look like this:

Type in your SAC Username (the first half of your email address, before the @), and then your password is your student ID number (including the beginning letter, probably an S). Once you login, WebBridge will fill in all the information you need about the article, so you will be shown a screen that looks like this:

Simply click the "Submit Request" button at the bottom of the screen (you may have to scroll down), and you're all set! You should receive an email from our Interlibrary Loan Office that explains where you can retrieve your article when it is available. If you have any other questions about Interlibrary Loan, feel free to look through our ILL page, or you can contact the ILL Office directly.

 

Citing a Resource

When you are looking at the entire record of a resource, off on the right side, there is a button you can click that says "Cite" (under Print, Email, Save buttons). Once you click that button, a grey-shaded box will appear in the middle of your screen, and will look like this:

 

The grey box above (outlined in red, though it will not be in the database) will appear at the top of the record. Scroll through the list to find the citation style you need. You can copy and paste this information, or export it to a Bibliographic Management Software (Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, etc.). There is also an "Export" button below the "cite" button that you can use for this purpose.

NOTE: Double check the citation to make sure the information and formatting is correct!!! Our databases pull information automatically from places it thinks the information should be and may not be able to format it correctly. Always always check the citation given to you by the database against the regulations given in the respective handbook for your citation style.

If you have any questions about citing sources, you can check out our Research Guide on the topic.

Saving Articles for Later

1) Create a MyEBSCO Account

• In order to save articles for later, you'll have to create a MyEBSCO account.
• To do so, click on the "Sign In" icon  in the top-most menu.
• From here, you'll be directed to sign in. If you haven't already created an account, you must scroll down to where there is a link that reads "Don't have an account? Create one now".
• Note: this process is entirely free, there are no costs involved for you to create an account.

Your screen will now look like this:

Simply fill out the required fields and click "Continue". And that's it! Congratulations, you now have a My EBSCO account!

2) Create a Folder

To create a folder, you must do so from the folders screen before you try and add items to it. Click on the Folder icon in the top-most menu  and your screen will look like this:

Click on the "New" link next to the folder icon for "My Custom" to make a new folder. The screen will then look like this:

Give your folder a name (and description if you like), click save, and then search as normal!

Note: technically, the My Folder will be created by default, so this step is for when you need to organize your articles or save some for multiple projects and want them to be separated.

3) Add an item to your folder

To add an item to your folder: 

• Search as normal, find an article you'd like to add
• Add from either the results page or the detailed record.
  • From the results page, there will be a little light blue folder with a plus sign in it directly next to the title of the article.
  • Click this folder and then click on the folder you'd like to add your article to.
  • That folder will then turn yellow and the plus sign will disappear.
    • NOTE: The database WILL remember which items you've already put in your folders! So that folder will remain yellow until you delete the folder the item is in or until you click to pull the item out of the folder! (Which you can do from either the folder menu, or from the "Add to Folder" popout)
  • In this case, your screen will look like this:

 

• From the detailed record, you can also add your article to a folder. There is an "Add to Folder" link on the right side (along with the Print, Email, Save, Cite, etc. links). Simply click this link, and from the little pop out, select which folder you'd like to send your article to. This is what that page will look like:

 

4) Email/Print/Save the things in your folder

To see the articles in your folders: 

• Click on the Folder icon  from the top-most menu again
• Click on the folder you'd like to look at. (If you created a folder in step 2, this will appear until the My Custom heading.) Your screen will look something like this:

From here, you can select the articles you'd like to send by using the checkboxes on the left of each item, then select "Print", "Email", "Save as File", or "Export" on the right side of your screen.

Note: The articles themselves will not send in an email, unless there is a PDF full text version available within this database. They will be sent as an attachment if that is the case. Otherwise, you'll just get the article information. These emails may take a few minutes to send, so be patient.

If you need to move articles to a different folder, you can do that from this screen, as well:

• Click the checkbox next to the article you'd like to move
• Click the "Move To" link at the top of the list
• Selecting the folder you'd like to move them to from the dropdown menu that will appear.
• You can also copy an article to another folder, or just delete the article in the same way. 

More Help from EBSCO

Not finding what you need here? Click on the links below for more information, including videos and other helpful guides.